WP 20801-20820	     		Compartmentizer loaders				(to WP 19501-19520)
	WP 20821-21400	     		Compartmentizer loaders added			(to WP 19521-19542)


				(to WP 3441-3442, 3451-3472, 3601-3602; load restraining devices added)
					(some again to WP 21501-21513)

				(to WP 22001-22025 in early 1960s for flour service)


				(to WP 19801-19850 in 1965; stretched to 50' by PS)
				(to WP 35701-35750 in 1965; stretched to 50' by PS; to YW 35701-35750)
				(to WP 37001-37200 in 1971; stretched to 50' by PC&F)
				(to WP 57001-57100 in 1965; stretched to 50' by PS)

These 40' box cars were built by PS (Lot 8027) in 10/1951 as PS-1s. The first group of 20 cars were originally built with PS's Compartmentizer loaders and painted silver with black lettering and a large, orange feather. The remaining cars were painted mineral red with silver lettering, black and silver heralds, and black car cement ends and roof. An additional group of 22 cars were randomly selected to be retrofitted with Compartmentizer loaders and done so by PS (lot 8121.) These cars were renumbered WP 19521-19542. Many thanks to Jim Eager for clearing all of this up for us. See below:

"OK, here's the story as complete as is currently known:

The first 20 cars of the 20801-21400 series were equipped with Pullman's
Compartmentizer loaders and delivered in 11/51 as 20801-20820, painted
all-silver with black lettering and the large orange feather. This is
established by the the noted photo of 20803 in V.3 #14 of the Train Sheet
(also published in the March-April 1984 Prototype Modeler), plus another of
20805 in Issue 17 of The Train Sheet. The trucks may have been silver as
with the Chrysler trucks on 20803, or black as with the conventional ASF
A-3 trucks on 80205, this is still to be established.

The remaining 20821-21400 series were painted mineral red with silver
lettering, black and silver heralds, and black car cement ends and roof.
The black ends and roof are confirmed by Pullman correspondence files and
photos of cars in original paint.

In 1952-53 a second group of 22 cars from the 20821-21400 series was sent
back to Pullman to be fitted with Compartmentizer loaders, P-S lot 8121.
Since the cars were selected at random they were to be renumbered to
19521-19542. (There is a full list of the cars converted and renumbered in
issue 17 of the Train Sheet.) To keep the Compartmentizer cars together the
20801-20820 cars were renumbered to 19501-19520 (but no photos yet).

Pullman correspondance shows that the second group of cars were NOT
repainted all-silver by Pullman due to the black car cement on the ends and
roof, but an unpublished 1954 slide of 19527 (SAC 2-53) shows that the cars
were indeed repainted silver with the orange feather by WP, but kept their
original black ends and roof.

All of the Compartmentizer cars were repainted mineral red with yellow
lettering, orange WESTERN PACIFIC and small feather in the mid-later 1950s,
as shown in a photo of 19540 (SAC 8-59) in issue 17 of the Train Sheet.
Still later the cars were renumbered back into the 20800s as the
Compartmentizers were removed (slide of 21096).

I hope this helps clear up the confusion about these cars.


Jim Eager"

Photo by: Steve Vincent

WP - as built:

WP 3451-3472:

WP 19501-19542:

WP 21501-21513:

Stretched to 50' by PS:

Re#'d for flour service:

Stretched to 50' by PC&F:

Okay, for those interested, the debate that was sparked over WP 21379 with the Frisco coon skin herald and WP reporting marks seems to have been solved. I will let Tom Carter explain it in his (or his father's) words:

"This car was ALWAYS a WP car, but was given "temporary" movie paint for filming on the WP, TS and Sierra Railroads for the movie "Bound for Glory" starring David Carradine about the life of folk singer Woody Guthrie. There were several cars done like this in 1976 for the filming. Since the movie took place in 1936/37 in Texas, Oklahoma and Southern California, having "Western Pacific" on a boxcar wasn't preferable to the plot line in the movie when the characters are supposed to be hopping trains TO California in Texas. The Stockton car dept. put numerous extra grab irons, sill steps, platforms, etc. on a bunch of old WP and TS cars for the movie, and used a flatcar with a steam engine outline and smoke pots on board for long distance shots on the mainline over Altamont. Close up shots of the engines were done on the Sierra with two of their steam engines, and in Stockton yard and on the Tidewater using a McCloud steam engine since WP's own steamer, WP 94 was inoperable or unavailable at the time. Another great example was when the "boxcar passengers" are all fighting and Woody and "Slim" bail out of the car their in, you can clearly see "WP 12197" stenciled on the door, but, when they show the outside, you can see where the WP logo had been painted out and A.T.S.F. relettered over the reporting marks. The 2 characters eventually jump off, run along side the train, and climb back on to the roof of the same car. Several TS Cornucopia cars were givn this treatment as well. Funny thing was, they left the "Western Fruit Express" on the reefers. Problem was though that the "temporary" movie paint wasn't so temporary and actually stuck too well, necessitating Dad and his co-workers to re-stencil the reporting marks on the cars, as well as the build dates, reporting marks, COT&S info, etc. However, due to the age of the cars, they didn't bother repainting the entire car. Too bad too, a lot of TS cornucopia cars lost those colorful logos to boxcar red "square patches" from this project. A funny little tidbit from the movie, they were filming at the West End of Stockton yard where the "riders" are hiding in the bushes and waiting to hop a train, and while the McCloud steamer simmers away, getting ready to take off in a Top Fuel Dragster like start, you can clearly see U23B 2260 in Perlman green and orange paint sitting right next to it. As the film crew went to such great lengths and expense to make things "just right" for the rail scenes in the movie, all they had to do was to move the steam engine forward 25' to simply fix the biggest flub in the whole movie. The light towers of Stockton yard are clearly visible as well in the background, and in one scene, at the very end, you can see a pristine red bay window caboose, an autorack and a pig flat in the background moving around the yard as Woody's train departs. It is a good movie, worth watching, if for nothing else, the WP Railroad scenes. A very unique side story in the history of the WP. Tom Carter"

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