Stock Cars
lead photo copyright © Robert Nicholson; used by permission.
Stock cars were used for transporting live stock, such as cattle, mostly from the western states to the eastern states. These cars were used as early as the 1830s. They either had a single deck (the floor) or a double-deck, the latter would be used to transport smaller animals, such as sheep. Stock cars resemble box cars, but with ventilated sides and sometimes also ventilated ends. Trains made up out of predominantly stock cars would have a "drovers" caboose, which housed both the railroad's conductor as well as (non-railroad) people dedicated to the care-taking of the animals. Today, livestock is moved by road trucks and no longer by rail, with the last stock cars disappearing in the 1980s (the circus still used them until 2017). Note that S-scale poultry cars are listed under the "One-of-a-Kind Car" sub-category.
Below are links to the various reports that show all of the S-scale stock cars ever produced. Click whichever report gets you to the information that wish to find.
Contact person: Webmaster
- By Model Manufacturer
Entries are sorted by manufacturer, then by road name. - By Model Manufacturer ID
Entries are sorted by manufacturer, then by the product ID. This report is handy if you know the manufacturer and the product ID.
This report is limited to entries that have a known manufacturer ID set. - By Road Name
Entries are sorted by road name, then by model manufacturer. - By Gauge
Entries are sorted by wheel gauge, then by manufacturer. The final pages have the entries sorted by the stock cars' road names. - By Model Introduction Year
Entries are sorted by model year, then by manufacturer. The final pages have the entries sorted by the stock cars' road names.
This report is limited to entries for which the model introduction year is known. - By Material
Entries are sorted by the dominant material from which the model (especially its body) is made, then by manufacturer. The final pages have the entries sorted by the stock cars' road names.
This report is limited to entries for which the dominant material is known. - By Photo
A mini photo album of sorts, this report shows the primary photo for each entry. Click on a photo to see that model's details and possible additional photos. The photos are sorted by road name, road number, and then by manufacturer. This is a huge page, so it may take some time to load.
This report is limited to entries that have at least one photo set. - Missing Photos
This report lists all of the entries for which we do not, yet, have a photo. If you have this model and can take a photo of it, please contact the webmaster. - All Entries
This report lists all entries in one page, and you can click on an entry to see its model information. - All Entries (text only)
Entries are sorted by model manufacturer, road name, road number, model year, and product ID, all on one page (no details, no photos). This is handy for when you just want a basic list of what has been produced. - Downloadable Text File
The full list of all of the key data for these entries. Note: To import or open this file in a spreadsheet software application, use the hat, ^, character as the column separator (see the "6" key of your keyboard). Most spreadsheet applications will let you pick the separator or delimiter; if not, open the file with a text editor and replace all "^" with a character of your choice, and then try it again.
Report Definitions
These definitions, in alphabetical order, may clarify some of the terms used in the reports linked to above:
- Gauge:
- "AF": for models that come only with A.C. Gilbert-style or -compatible wheels and couplers.
- "S": for standard-gauge (4'8-1/2" rail-spacing) models that come with either no wheels and couplers, with scale wheels and/or couplers, or with "hi-rail" wheels and couplers but have scale wheels and couplers included in the package.
- "Sn3", "Sn2", "Sn42": for the various narrow-gauge rail spacings.
References
Don Thompson reported that S-Helper Service produced a total of 14,320 individual stock car models.
A lot of the S-scale models are those that have external bracing. Some angled bracing "leans" toward the center of the car and some toward the ends of the car. Some railroads had standards for those, and some did not or they switched from one design to the other as newer cars were being built. The Pratt Truss design had bracing pointing toward the ends of the car. The Howe Truss design had bracing pointing toward the middle of the car. Bob Hogan reported that the Southern Pacific was one of the railroads that switched design types over time.
The February 1992 3/16 'S'cale Railroading magazine issue has extensive research into the D&RGW narrow-gauge stock cars.