Need some timeline help

[Canadian Atlantic Railway]

I am still fine tuning my era and and looking at setting my layout in the 1990-2000 range. When did the 50' hi-cube boxcars (Like this <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/920-101708">http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/920-101708</a><!-- m --> ) start to hit the rails? What year was yellow reflective tape made mandatory?

[Charlie B]

Hers the ruling on the tape but I know this was started in the late 90's
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2005/01/03/04-28407/reflectorization-of-rail-freight-rolling-stock">https://www.federalregister.gov/article ... ling-stock</a><!-- m -->
50 foot Hi-cubes have been around for a long time and I remember seeing these, or similar cars at East Manufacturing Co. (New Castle, Pa) in 1995 or so when I worked the NCIR.
Charlie

[Canadian Atlantic Railway]

That helps a lot Charlie. I am thinking the 1995 timeline that the hi-cube paper cars started coming on-line.

[Mr Fixit]

Hi Railnet
Off the top of my head in response to your question about yellow reflective tape on railcars and locomotives; the sunrise year is 2005 and the sunset year is 2015.
Basically the regulations came into effect in 2005 and by @ June 2015 all railcars and locomotives need to be compliant.
This meant that a fleet of railcars could be worked on at the rate of 10% per year and the entire fleet would be compliant in time.
It also allowed for cars to be taped as and when they came in for service.
White tape can also be used but it requires 50% more tape to be used.
Let me know if you require more detailed further information as I reseached this subject several years ago.
Mark

[Canadian Atlantic Railway]

I may go from 1995-2005 so changing out the cars with the reflective striping won't be that big of a deal. Thanks for the info Mark

[Mr Fixit]

Stephen

If you allow for 10 to 15% of your fleet to have reflective striping in 2005.
If you allow for 7.5 to 10% of your fleet to have reflective striping in 2000.
If you allow for @ 3 to 5% of your fleet to have reflective striping in 1995.
The reason for these figures is that some private fleets were voluntarily fitted out with reflective striping as a public safety and proactive safety measure by their owners, read; avoiding legal liability hassles. These owners may have had or seen the tractor trailers being fitted out and decided that their railcars [particularly covered hoppers and tank cars] should be easily seen.

You can also get yellow and white reflective stripe transfer sets from Microscale.
Mark

[Canadian Atlantic Railway]

Thanks again Mark I filed the numbers away for future reference.

[e-paw]

Just a side note. . Not all locomotives need tape. There is a cut off year that goes by the build date. I don't know what it is but the F-3's that I work on do not need reflective tape or ditch lights. Only engines built after a certain date need it. Every thing else is allowed to operate as built.

[Canadian Atlantic Railway]

Thanks for the information e-paw. I am going to be using C420, C425 & C430's and since it is a Canadian operation I plan on using ditch lights for my roster.

[e-paw]

Well with a roster like that you can recreate this shot I took from last October. Six Alco's, all 4 or 600 series pass our train while we wait in the hole at Slateford junction.    

This shot at the same location was taken last Tuesday. It shows almost the same consist from more of a side angle where the reflective tape can be seen.    

[Canadian Atlantic Railway]

That would be amazing to see and even better to hear those six units working their way by your train Riding behind an F unit wouldn't be a bad thing either in 2014.

[e-paw]

We don't ride behind em,,, We ride in em...    

[Canadian Atlantic Railway]

We don't ride behind em,,, We ride in em... [ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]

Lucky you It's been awhile since I have been in the cab. Last time I was invited for a ride it was in a CN GP38-2W.

[tomustang]

We don't ride behind em,,, We ride in em... [ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]

Or sleep in them

[e-paw]

Well Only in the GP-9.