Transport Fever 2

Transport Fever 2

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USRA Single-Sheathed Boxcars
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Scenario: USA
Vehicle: Wagon
File Size
Posted
Updated
192.469 MB
14 Sep, 2024 @ 8:26pm
13 Apr @ 8:36pm
4 Change Notes ( view )

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USRA Single-Sheathed Boxcars

Description
Early-Mid 20th Century Boxcars!
In late 1917, United States railroads were nationalized to better organize them in support of the WWI effort. As part of the deal, the railroads would be returned to their owners in as good or better condition within 21 months of a peace treaty. To fulfill this obligation, the USRA undertook a modernization program to replace obsolete equipment with the state of the art. The standardized USRA classes of steam locomotives are well known, but the USRA also introduced several standard classes of freight car.
The 40ft. 50-ton single-sheathed boxcar was one of these. The cars were of composite construction with a steel frame, roof, and ends, with wood sides braced by pressed-steel structural members. Beginning in late 1918, 25,000 of these cars were delivered to 22 different railroads. The cars were very successful in service, capable of higher loads and more durable than the all-wood cars they replaced. After the war thousands of copies were built by other railroads across North America, including Canada and Mexico. While by the late '30s new all-steel boxcars were gaining in popularity, the composite design saw a brief resurgence during WWII. New "War Emergency" boxcars were built to a design similar to the USRA design from over 20 years prior to conserve steel. The cars were very durable. Some of the originals survived into the late 60's in interchange service, and some were used into the 80's in captive service.

What's in the pack?
I got a little carried away. This pack includes over 50 different skins for various railroads that owned original USRA cars or similar "clones".
The full list:
  • Ann Arbor
  • Atlanta Birmingham & Coast
  • Algoma Central
  • Baltimore & Ohio
  • Chicago Burlington & Quincy
  • Clinchfield
  • Canadian National
  • Central Railroad of New Jersey
  • Chicago & Northwestern (2 skins)
  • Chesapeake & Ohio
  • Canadian Pacific
  • Colorado & Southern
  • Delaware & Hudson
  • Duluth Missabe & Iron Range
  • Denver & Rio Grande Western (2 skins)
  • Detroit Toledo & Ironton
  • Erie
  • Fort Worth & Denver
  • Georgia Railroad
  • Green Bay & Western
  • Grand Trunk Western
  • Michigan Central
  • Maine Central
  • Milwaukee Road
  • Missouri - Kansas - Texas
  • Missouri Pacific
  • Minneapolis & St. Louis
  • New Jersey Indiana & Illinois
  • Northern Pacific
  • Norfolk & Western (2 skins)
  • New York Central
  • Pacific Electric
  • Pittsburgh McKeesport & Youghiogheny
  • Pennsylvania (4 road numbers, they had over 9000 cars of the X26 type at one point!)
  • Portland Terminal
  • Rutland
  • Reading
  • Richmond Fredericksburg & Potomac
  • St. Louis & San Francisco
  • Southern Pacific
  • Sud Pacífico de México
  • Southern Pacific Shasta Water
  • Texas & New Orleans
  • Virginian
  • Wabash
  • Western Maryland
  • Western Pacific
Basically I made a skin for everything for which I could find reasonable reference. If I somehow missed one, there's a blank paint kit texture included if you want to make your own. Or just send me reference and I'll probably add it.
Additionally there is a generic colorable skin, and a random variant which will automatically choose from a pool of most of the skins.

Stats:
These cars fall right in between the existing vanilla all-wood and all-steel cars.
Top Speed: 65 mph
Capacity: 13
Cargo Types: Grain, Plastic, Machines, Tools, Food, Goods
Weight: 22 tons
Available: 1918-1968

Credit to Pete Willard of RailSimStuff for most of the fonts and logos.
16 Comments
Labby  [author] 20 Apr @ 2:16pm 
@Scaraloughie
Compatibility patch script for random cars with additonal cargo types is done:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3467033118
Labby  [author] 26 Mar @ 4:08pm 
The random cars use custom loads for the car bodies which means that they need to be defined for each cargo type. If you're using mods that add cargo types then the cars won't have custom loads defined for them and will be invisible if loaded with that type of cargo.
It's possible to make them work with additional cargo types, but I haven't come up with a clean solution that will work for all of the different (and potential future) mods that add new cargo. Ideally I'd like to do a script-based fix that will work with any new cargo, rather than compatibility patches for each different cargo type mod, just haven't figured out a good way to do it yet.
For now you'll just need to use the non-random versions for modded cargo :/
Scaraloughie 24 Mar @ 2:14pm 
I love this pack but is there any way to prevent the cars when using the randomizer car, becoming invisible?
RadiKyle 16 Feb @ 6:00am 
Many thanks for the fix!! 🥳 I threw like 90 randos on a train to stress test it and it worked! 😅
JackForelander 21 Sep, 2024 @ 12:31pm 
Great stuff! Would love to see a flat bed for the early-mid 1900's, there doesn't seem to be any on the market!
Labby  [author] 16 Sep, 2024 @ 11:00pm 
DL&W also opted for the 40-ton double-sheathed cars instead of the 50-ton single-sheathed in this mod. I might make a similar pack for the double-sheathed cars at some point, but I have another project in the works to get back to first.
Bamaji 16 Sep, 2024 @ 4:53pm 
any chance of adding one for the Delaware, Lackawanna, & Western?
conrail4ever 16 Sep, 2024 @ 7:57am 
Outstanding!!!
LSkeetskeet 16 Sep, 2024 @ 12:47am 
Superb
UnitedBankofMoney 15 Sep, 2024 @ 9:15am 
I would like to personally thank you for making the sheathed boxcar pack. It's not glamorous, but its a hole now well filled between the Pre-1900 cars and Meatball's Boxcars. The Nationwide V&T Domination persists no longer! (At least until 1918!) A perfect companion to Admiral's USRA locomotives as well!