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Missouri-Kansas-Texas Interchanged Cars
Revised 5/28/01
Storage Mail Box
1944 Annual Report, one of 50 built by ACF in 1937. The Katy built 39more in 1945.
Modified Red Caboose Model
The Santa Fe - Katy handoff at Kansas City extended from 1937 to 1963. The Katy had 39 passenger-equipped box express cars, class BX. Those in the 45001-45085 series were numbered 45051-054, 45056, and 45058-45070. These were postwar 40' 40 ton double door cars built in 1945-'46 with notched side sills, improved Dreadnaught ends, 14'6" early style Youngstown corrugated double doors, rectangular panel roofs, and steel grid running boards (drawing). According to MKT Lines in Color, some prewar 40' double door boxcars from the 60001-60100 series were also used in express service. These cars, built in 1937, had straight side sills with long, shallow reinforcing panels below the doors, square-cornered early 5-5 Dreadnaught ends,12'6" prewar Youngstown corrugated doors, rectangular panel roofs, and wood running boards.
Originally, the express cars were painted Sloan yellow with black lettering, but by 1949, the first 18 from the group of 39 were repainted dark (Pullman) green with gold lettering, thus better matching other head-end heavyweight baggage and mail cars of the day.
The first of the cars above could be modeled by adding the extended sill to a Red Caboose kit RC-8501, or you could wait until Branchline issues a kit which is rumored to be in the pipeline for production some time 2001-2002. The decals are by Odd Ball Decals, #399. The Odd Ball decals are inaccurate in two figures: the LLDLMT is 85700 and the LTWT is 50300.
In the mid 60s Tyco offered an (inaccurate) HO model in the yellow scheme and carrying the number 45090. A model of the MKT 45054 was available in the tiny Z-scale from the Micro-Trains Line Co.
MKT Lines in Color, Katy Power, and Katy Southwest have photos of these cars. Repainting was going on in 1948, at which time cars in both color schemes could be seen. Katy Southwest p. 75 shows ATSF fishbelly storage mail in 1937 on the Katy Ltd and 1963 shots in MKT in Color show the Katy Flyer with Santa Fe express boxes.
Reference:
George, Raymond B., Jr. MKT Lines in Color.
