Modeling a B&O P-31a TOFC flat car
An HO model of the Baltimore & Ohio’s first car designed for carrying trailers/Gregory La Rocca
MODEL PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
The second car in Cleveland 97’sTofcee block is in Plan II service, with the railroad using its own vans to offer complete service to the
as the late 1850’s, with farmers’ wag- ons being carried by rail. Starting in the 1920’s, various Midwestern in- terurbans handled TOFC and contain- er traffic, with Class 1 railroads follow- ing in the 1930’s. According to Classic Trains, the Chicago Great Western pio- neered this in the summer of 1935 with experimental runs, followed by regular service beginning in July 1936. By 1952, six railroads offered TOFC serv- ice –CB&Q, ATSF, C&EI, D&RGW, NYNH&H, and GCW–with another half-dozen reported at that time to be making serious studies of the concept. By 1954, the year B&O began offering Tofcee, the number of railroads doing the same had jumped to 18. B&O Tofcee began on July 20, 1954, between Philadelphia and Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Chicago, and Cincin- nati and East St. Louis. Initial opera- tions started by converting 35 stan- dard 53′-6″ flat cars in class P-31 to class P-31a to carry 24-foot and 32-foot trailers and leasing 150 new 24-foot
A RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
ntecedents to carrying trailers on flat cars (TOFC, or Tofcee in B&O-speak) date as far back
shipper and consignee. The 24-foot vans are stock Athearn, but with the first wheel set removed to more closely match the prototype.
trailers to use on these cars. The car conversion consisted of removing the deck boards from the center of the car over the center-sill to create a cavity in which to store the wheel chocks, jacks, chains, and other specialized equip-
RMC/Dremel Kitbashing Award........
ment necessary to tie-down the trailers (the fifth-wheel trailer hitch having not yet been adapted to railroad use), and adding short upright members to the stake pockets to support piping on which to attach the chains used to tie down the trailers (the jacks were used only to take 60% the trailer’s weight off of its springs). Longer uprights were installed in four stake pockets on each side of the car in order to (apparently) prevent the trailers from tipping. Bridge plates were added to the right side of each end for circus loading by backing trailers up a ramp and down the length of cars.
A minimum of $100 and a Dremel Rotary Tool Kit with a variable-speed Dremel 3000 rotary tool and acces- sories are awarded to the monthly winners of the RMC/DREMEL KITBASHING AWARD. Entries must consist of at least two photos (high-resolution digital pic- tures should be at least 3,000 pixels wide; color slides or 5″×7″ or 8″×10″ prints are also acceptable) and a short text. Models must use at least 50% commercial compo- nents; unused entries may be held future editorial use.
The first cars converted were num- bered 8700-8734. These were followed by Nos. 8736-8737, 8739-8743, 8745- 8754, all in 1955, and 8755-8784 in 1955-56, giving a total of 82 cars. By 1961, this was down to 47 cars still in this service. All of the conversions were done at the railroad’s Mt. Clare shops. In April of 1955 service had expand- ed to 42 city-to-city pairings. By Au- gust of the next year, the railroad had 231
trailers, including 32-foot and
flatbed units. At that time, ICC “Plan 73
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