A roster of the B-70-32 class box cars is provided as follows:

	SP 659500-659599	1966	(re #'d SP 227600-227699 & 228200-228309)  Car Pac Loaders
	SP 659600-659699	1967	 "    "     "     "   "     "     "    "
	SSW 61000-61142		1967
	SSW 61143-61149		1967				    Car Pac Loaders

These 50'-5" hi-cube box cars were all built to the same basic design by Pacific Car & Foundry in 1966-67 and featured 6033 ft3 capacity, Hydra-Cushion underframes and 10'-6" Youngstown sliding doors. They were purchased for appliance service. The Cotton Belt cars differed SLIGHTLY in that they are listed as 50'-6" long with 6032 ft3 capacity in the April 1973 ORER. An article on modeling these cars by Staffan Ehnbom can found in the December 1985 issue of Prototype Modeler magazine.

It appears as though a hand full of cars were renumbered into the above SP series' around 1970. It also appears as though the renumbered cars MAY have come from the SSW cars in this class. This is only speculation based upon numbers of cars in the various number series' over time. See the shrink table for details. Many of these cars appear to have been sold off in the 1980's. Some are reported to have ended up on the Alaska Railroad. More recently, some appear to have been sold to The Andersons, Inc. (BAEX)

The announcement of HO and N models of this class by Exactrail comes as welcome news to modelers. The initial release includes the model decorated for SP. We will have to wait and see if the Cotton Belt cars are covered as well.

Photo courtesy: SP photo, Steve Peery collection

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