UPHS S-40-6 Stock Car
These cars were originally built by the American Car and Foundry Company and the 1000 cars were delivered to the Union Pacific Railroad during the spring and summer of 1918. They were all single deck cars numbered 45760-46759 and designated the S-40-6 class.
In 1941, the railroad began a rebuilding program that converted 606 of these to double deck cars, and they were renumbered into the 41000 series with the final 3-numbers remaining the same. If the original number was 45798, the new number became 41798; or if the original number was 46304, it became 41304. Any car that was not converted to double deck retained its original car number, and both versions retained their S-40-6 Class designation. The cars went through another rebuilding program in the early 1950s that included extra bracing on the ends along with power hand brake and an AB brake system.
It might be noted that although the double deck versions were designed to be convertible back to single decks if needed, it does not appear this was done to any of the cars, and they retained their double deck configuration throughout the remainder of their careers.
The entire class exhibited a lengthy lifespan and were utilized well into the late 1960s before being retired. The July 1947 Official Railway Equipment Register lists 598 of the double deck and 378 of the single deck cars in service. The January 1960 Register lists 482 of the double deck and 333 of the single deck cars still in service. They began retiring the cars in earnest after 1962 with 81 cars retired that year followed by 120 in 1963, 167 in 1964 and 88 in 1965. There were still over 200 cars on the roster at the end of 1968, with the final retirements coming in 1970.
The Union Pacific Historical Society is proud to offer accurate and detailed models of the double deck versions of the Union Pacific S-40-6 Stock Car in their post 1950s rebuilt versions. The first models are pre-painted and lettered kits with up to 12 different car numbers. They were first available at the 25th Anniversary UPHS Convention held in Cheyenne, WY on July 8th thru the 11th. There were 500 kits, each including repacking data representing Cheyenne. There will be future releases of the cars in RTR versions with different car numbers and different repacking information. As each car number sells out, it will not be re-run so make sure your order yours right away.
Please visit the UPHS website, company store regularly for updated information in regard to availability, pricing. Watch the Announcments page for information on future releases.