Pickle Car

Boomer_K_MOGWAI · June 2, 2025, 3:43pm

Summer is here and I have need of condiments. Mainly pickles for my hamburgers, hotdogs, potato salad and deviled eggs. In 1:20.3 scale. Time to start a new project and mark a long awaited item off my want list. A pickle brine car.

While I have thought about this for decades I have done almost no research on these. I will have to start this one from zero.

After cruising the internet for the weekend I found the following information.

Pickle cars were created by (or at least credited to) the H.J. Heinz company. The company received a patent for the design and put a fleet into service in the early 1900s. The first cars were 36’ long with 3 tanks. Longer versions were soon added along with designs by other companies. Most had 3 or 4 tanks and could be open or closed sided. Hatches on the roof provided the access.

Cucumbers were collected from local farms and dumped into salt brine. They could stay fresh and usable for up to two weeks. The actual pickling process took place at the processing and canning factories. Cucumbers were dumped in through the top hatches often by wheelbarrow. To get them out workers used nets. I assume similar to a lacrosse stick .

The cars were made of wood with unlined vats. Pickle cars remained in service until the mid 1960s when truck farming became mature.

Okay well that fits my need for a narrow gauge railroad operating in the mid 1930s with a regional business in need of cucumbers for its hot relish. Fortunately I already have such a business on the pike.

Boomer_K_MOGWAI · June 2, 2025, 3:45pm

And now for pictures…

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Boomer_K_MOGWAI · June 2, 2025, 3:51pm

Time to plan the build.

I want detail so open sided is the way to go. Kind of like the company name on the tanks rather than a sign board on the side or top. See the Hyman Pickle pictures.

I also prefer the inter-tank bracing and tension rod design on the Von Allmen car.

A couple of other ideas. Rene Schweitzer suggested in an article in Garden Railways to have a few of the hatches open with pickles visible in the vats below.

Boomer_K_MOGWAI · June 2, 2025, 3:54pm

Some plans I found. Interesting ideas since I am going to kit-bash this not scratch build it.

Boomer_K_MOGWAI · June 2, 2025, 4:00pm

I also searched LSC. Lou Luczu had an excellent article on his build but all the picture links are gone.

"Deleted User did this smasher of a closed car.

Here is a Photo from Rob Eaton of Rene’s car

If anybody else wants to add their comments or pictures now is the time. I am going to head down to the workshop and see what I have for donor material.

John_Wilda · June 2, 2025, 4:44pm

Boomer, This is such a cool project! I cannot wait to see how it turns out. I’d never heard of this cars before.

John_Bouck · June 2, 2025, 8:05pm

I built a 1:20.3 40’ enclosed brine car years ago.

And a 30’ reefer.

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RRRR4 · June 2, 2025, 8:15pm

TA-DA Here it is:

Started out as a Delton Coal Car that I took the guts out. Pickle01

I used some plastic cylinder containers that instant lemonade had come in and covered them with stirrer sticks, then used markers to color them.
Pickle04

The decals I had from Who-knows-where. I think they were O Scale.
One more:

Sawburner · June 2, 2025, 9:01pm

I have a Lionel pickle car in my collection, they are cool. Never knew the history on them thanks for sharing that.

Bob_Cope · June 2, 2025, 11:39pm

If you ask BD nicely, he may resurrect John Le Forestier’s Pickel Car from Build Challenge No. 4. As i recollect it was a very nicely done model. I have some stuff I will forward on to you when I locate it.

capecodtodd · June 3, 2025, 12:42pm

Pickle cars are a fun odd ball car to add to your roster and who doesn’t like pickles?

I made one several years back to celebrate the love of pickles my young Niece and I shared. We were “pickle pals” . That was when she was 6 or so. Now she is 14 and this Uncle isn’t as cool as he once was. but the pickle car is still cool.

I used a similar approach as Lou did to build mine by starting with an Aristo hopper car and 3 tin cans

Dave_Meashey · June 3, 2025, 1:38pm

Guys;

Stop giving me ideas! This is getting very tempting, especially since I have an old flatcar I was wondering how I could modify to be better use.

Regards, David Meashey

P.S. Vienna sausage cans covered with stir sticks might just work.

capecodtodd · June 3, 2025, 4:32pm

I say go for it Dave and being a LTR fan you could call it “Prancing Pony Pickles”

Dave_Meashey · June 3, 2025, 6:40pm

Aw heck, Todd;

I was thinking of Butterbur’s Crispy Dill Spears (beloved in Bree)!

Best, David Meashey

Boomer_K_MOGWAI · June 3, 2025, 8:24pm

After an unusually adventurous search through the store room I found the basic parts for this project.
The roof and frame are left over from the rotary build. The tanks are from some Delta or Aristo flatcars. Don’t remember exactly but I have a pretty good stack of them. Lastly is the unpainted spectrum flatcar and a wood roof boxcar.

The first thing I need to do is swap the roofs of the boxcar. Pickle cars were mostly wood to prevent corrosion from the salt brine. That will leave me a wood-side boxcar with a Murphy roof for future use. Probably a poultry car or tool car for the MOW.

If I use the frame piece I can return the flatcar to the archives. It will take a lot of work to build a new body around the frame but it will give me the chance to do something a little different from the original plan. The Lamoille car looks like the tanks are sitting on wood beams with no decking. Could be pretty cool and one more thing to make the car seem unique. I will have to think about this.

In the meantime here is a mock up of the basics.

Some measurements are in order.

Rooster · June 3, 2025, 10:07pm

John,
Would you please will me that car! I would be happy to will you something in return (ya’ know just in case you win) but I got nothing you would want! As you know I love that car and Boomer had to dig it back up !!