Another AHM Rehab

The American Train & Track ore car, later brought in by AHM, IHC, and Model Power, was a prolifically produced model brought in from the 1960s until recently. Here's a stock version:

Around 35 years ago, I found a fair number on the used counter at a hobby shop. Although these came lettered for several ore hauling railroads, these cars are about a foot longer on the prototype than the Lake Superior style ore car. They were built for the Bessemer and Lake Erie, at least nominally for ore service between Conneaut, OH and Pittsburgh steel mills. Somewhat similar cars ran on Canadian Pacific, SP and UP.

A friend showed me some slides he'd collected covering a wreck on the PRR Middle Division with these cars mixed in (literally) among PRR G39 ore cars. US Steel imported iron ore from Venezuela beginning in the 1950s. I think this was transferred from ships in both Philadelphia and Morrisville, PA, farther up the Delaware River, and hauled by rail to Pittsburgh. This was the reason for the PRR G39s, and my friend's slides show the B&LE cars also ran in this service. I've found another photo of B&LE cars on the Erie Lackawanna at Marion, OH, presumably on a move from Cleveland to a Chicago area steel mill.

Floquil had recently brought out its Rail Brown paint color, and I thought this was very close to the color on the B&LE ore cars. Here's a closeup of one that I upgraded with new trucks and Kadees:

I used the Champ ore car set, which was a really good set. Both Rail Brown paint and Champ decals are now gone, of course.

I can't remember how many of these cars I upgraded. I've dug out half a dozen. Here's a shot of a cut: