GN 13397

Box Car

GN 13397 was constructed by the Great Northern's St Cloud shops in August, 1960. It was part of the series 11880-11887 and 13000-13499. 11880-11887 were prototypes rebuilt from other cars, while 13000-13499 were new construction. All were built under Authority for Expenditure 91867. The AAR car type designation was 'XM'.

Never repainted in BN Cascade Green, or renumbered into the BN number scheme, it was retired and donated to MTM when BN's Como Shops closed. MTM leased space there, and during the closure had the opportunity to take several "to be repaired" boxcars and stuff them full of cast-off shop tools and repair parts. It spent several years stored in the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant in Arden Hills, and eventually moved to Jackson Street in about 2003.

The peculiar double-door arrangement, with one 'normal' sliding door and one plug door, was devised to make box cars more flexible. For shipping grain (in the days before covered hoppers) the 'normal' six foot wide sliding door was the correct width for the boards used to hold the grain in. For other lading, the plug door made a wider 12' 3 1/4" opening, which was more convenient for driving a fork lift in and out.

13397 was sandblasted and repainted during the winter of 2005/2006. Same paint scheme, just fresh paint. The picture at top is prior to the small lettering being applied. Click here to see how it looked before repainting:

GNRHS reference sheet 331 has a photo of new (or near new) sibling 13383. The angle is the same as the picture above, and the resemblance is striking. That reference sheet also has a reproduction of the equipment diagram.

The Vermillion Red paint scheme was introduced in 1956, following a system-wide tour of ten test paint jobs on ten box cars. It remained the standard until 1967, when it was replaced by Big Sky Blue. (See 138407 for an example of Big Sky Blue.)

Sources:

1. "Great Northern's ''Glacier Green'' Cars - A Photo Roster" (Great Northern Railway Historical Society Reference Sheet #147) by Staffan Ehnbom; data p5.
2. "Great Northern Box Cars - Numbers 11875-17999" (Great Northern Railway Historical Society Reference Sheet #331) by Staffan Ehnbom; data p6.
3. "Great Northern Equipment Pictorial Book Two - Freight Cars," by Scott R. Thompson; data p118.