If you got our New Year's card recently, you know that the Railway is proudly celebrating its 100th birthday this year. I thought you might be interested in some background on the Centennial program, and some of the other commemorative cars you might see. (And hey, if you didn't get our holiday card, send me your address, and we'll get you on the list.)
THE MILESTONE
As the card said:
"On April 4, 1852, a charter was granted by the Commonwealth of Virginia, to build a railroad north out of Suffolk, to Petersburg and Richmond. This year we mark a century of service and progress. Watch for the Centennial cars and celebrate with us!"
from that 60-mile agrarian sapling
into the sprawling Suffolk System of today:
More fun with sound!
THE IDEA
So about a million years ago, like in the '80s, Barri and I used to frequent estate auctions, in search of antiques, and just to tour cool old houses. One Saturday we ended up acquiring an interesting set of travelogue pennants from the 1950s, which are still on display in the crew lounge.
I had always thought they were neat, especially that Centennial pennant, saying "1859-1959". And it was a happy accident that my choice of layout era, and my choice of prototype, had intersected to allow my freelance line to be celebrating its 100th birthday...
So I'd been noodling for a while about doing a "Centennial" slogan. But I needed a plan that would allow commemorative cars to show up occasionally for interest, quietly, without wrecking the "fleet feel" of the freight car roster.
THE PLAN
Bearing in mind what little budget the thrifty Dutchmen at the helm would have allowed, versus the vast marketing opportunity envisioned by the PR Dept., I thought a workable compromise might be for the Railway to repaint one car, in each class, for the occasion. Make a spotting game out of it, like an Easter egg hunt -- "to delight the traveling public and shippers alike," as the PR men might have said.
Thus the plan was hatched. Fusing together celebration, stealth, and economy, the commemorative cars would:
- Be representative of the fleet,
- Use the otherwise-standard freight car livery, with:
- A Centennial slogan in place of the roadname,
- A special herald, but based on the standard hex,
- Trucks painted body color, 'cuz it's festive and easy;
- Wear a satin finish, having been repainted very recently, in late '51. And, how about this...
- Be the 100th car in each class! For pride, not to mention poetic value.
THE HERALD
The herald was a blast -- but then, few things are as much fun as variations on a theme. (You know -- Impalas have 6 taillights, but Bel Airs only have 4. That sort of thing.)
I started with the current (c. 1936) design, which is actually a collection of geometric shapes in MS PowerPoint. I wanted to keep the line thickness and spacing the same, and also wanted to keep the pointed ends and parallel sides which match the hex shape -- all to stick with the theme of the original. The special was not to be too obvious. It should sneak up on the unsuspecting trainwatcher.
And as luck would have it, a "100" in place of the the "SN", in the standard hex shape and size, was deemed to be both "Swell!" by the PR men, and, "sufficiently frugal" by the Board.
For the slogan I used that same font (MS Brush Script) as on our "James River Route" cars, which just screams "Mid-Century" to me. I appreciate Tom Patterson's (CW&E) counsel on nailing down a prototypical level of both promotion and dignity there.
Once the artwork was done up, a decal sheet was printed by whom else -- my tech man and oldest buddy, Darren Williamson (IHB). (Thanks man!)
THE CANDIDATES
I chose a few ambassador cars primarily based on... whether I had any on hand.👍 And, by whether they had a nice big open flank on which to scrawl the "Centennial" message. And OK, yeah, they needed to be representative samples too, and not oddballs -- since they were already going to become oddballs.
Steel Boxcar
Our cover girl, 24100, is an Accurail AAR boxcar built in '41, speaking of "representative". This car was the kernel of the idea, since I still had one data-only kit left on hand, of the half dozen I ordered long ago. Here she is again, in the yard at Segway, helpfully coupled to weathered sister 24335 for comparison.
Offset Hopper
With the SNR being a coal hauler, a hopper was a necessity. The Athearn offset-side type was an obvious choice, with that smooth flank -- compared to, like, every other hopper design. Plus it's by far the most common hopper style on the layout, and, I've always got a bunch on hand. Above, freshly-repainted 36100 has just rolled out of the Suffolk car shops, last fall.
I'm considering doing up an MDC 3-bay too, since those are also common and on hand, but I don't want to over-do it. After all, if it's just cars numbered xx100, that means you should have about a 1,000:1 chance of seeing one! And in freshly-painted satin finish, they glisten like golf balls, too. Less is more. Well, fewer is more.
I thought a really old car with a spiffy new doo would be interesting. Number 20100 was built in the '20s as a double-sheathed 8' car with wood ends, doors, and roofwalk. She'd already gotten a second lease on life during the War, when only enough steel was available for rebuilding wooden cars, rather than constructing new steel ones. That overhaul, though, got her dreadnaught ends, Youngstown doors (Tichy), a sleek new steel roofwalk (Kadee), and a power handbrake. And now ten years later, it looks like she's starting her third chapter with a brand-new paint job, as ambassador for the Centenary.
LIMITED USAGE
Since they do stand out, despite stealth being one of the criteria, the plan is to keep them off the layout unless billed by the switchlist system -- rather than letting them rotate between assignments as overhead traffic, like usual. I'm hoping that will keep it fresh, and make it a surprise when you see one, like the Easter eggs the PR Dept. intended.
Thanks as always for reading, and let me know what you think!
