From 1949 through 1957 the Soo Line’s Fond du Lac Shops produced about 2,300 six-foot single sliding-door 40′ boxcars for the Soo Line and it’s leased subsidiary Wisconsin Central. Although the car design remained virtually unchanged, important changes took place in their appearances because of their lettering schemes. From 1949 to 1951, the traditional Soo Line “$-sign” herald was used. Beginning later in 1951, a billboard lettering scheme with four-foot block letters was introduced. A refined form was used from 1953-1957. These Fond du Lac boxcars became the signature Soo Line freight cars from the 1950s through the later 1960s.
The HO boxcar shown here represents the intermediate billboard form from 1951 with the “SOO” and “LINE” spread out towards the car ends, but still placed high on the car side. These cars are a lighter oxide red color with white printing, including all end lettering. A prototype photo from the W.C. series of these cars is shown on page 20 of Soo Line Freight Equipment and Cabooses, produced by the SLHTS and still available from the Society.
These cars are from Accurail and were produced in 2017 for Milwaukee’s Trainfest using masters developed by the SLHTS. They match in color and style the Fond du Lac boxcars produced by the SLHTS in 2017. The SLHTS was able to acquire the very limited number of remaining cars and they are offered here.
