I found some at Hobby Lobby in amongst a tube of farm critters. $2.99 for 15-20.
beautiful looking livestock freightcar… 
Thanks Dave, I’ll check that the next time I go to Spokane. Nearest Hobby Lobby to me. 150 miles away across the border.
Ron
the cattlemen’s association on my layout decided, to keep a sharp eye on the local railroad.
if there ever is a two storey livestockcar to be seen it will be rim-rocking time!
your car looks fine (if that word can apply to something, that has to do with sheep)
Ron,
Can you tell me the reason that stock cars have the upper planking on the outside and the lower planking on the inside of the bracing on the sides? BTW, I love your model. Very well done.
Joe,
The answer is obvious, that’s why most people don’t see it. “So the cattle don’t get all banged up during the ride knocking up against the bracing.” I have the drawings published in RMC back in October 1976 I believe and it took me a bit to get that. If memory serves it also indicates that (not to nit pic Ron’s build) there were also interior boards on the cars altered for the second tier for sheep service, for the same reason.
Good question Joe, I will bet others had the same question but didn’t ask.
Bob C.
Thank You Bob. This is why I came to LSC. Someone always has the right answer!
to me the answer is not so obvious.
yes it is obvious that boards on the inside are better for the animals.
but why are the upper boards on the outside?
when they started building cattlecars, there were still freightcars, who had all their boards inside of the posts. so why did they build the cattlecars differently?
Do you have a tractor supply store near you… If so I believe they may have some scale sheep figures there…Travis
Hi Joe
Yes, I believe that Bob is correct in that the planking on the inside was to protect the cattle during transport. It would make sense that on the cars converted for sheep that there was probably also inside planking on the second deck. When I built the model, I had very little information on the sheep cars themselves and no pics of the interiors.I was just trying to come up with something different for the challenge and was not too concerned with a prototype. Did find a picture in Carstens Slim Gauge Cars, but it showed the inside on the lower level only.
Korm, why they put the upper sheeting on the outside I have no idea, but all the pictures I have seen and all the cars I have seen were built like that so, I just went with it. Certainly makes it easier for lettering. I checked back in A Century and Ten of D&RGW Narrow Gauge cars, and is seems that the earliest cars had the slats on the inside all the way up, but on the later cars they are split. Inside on the bottom, outside on the top. No idea why.
Travis, good idea but no tractor supplier near me. I live in the mountains, lots of logging and mining equipment but no farming.
Ron
I don’t have a definitive answer, but to my way of thinking moving the upper boards (those not needed for livestock protection) to the outside made for easier lettering of the car. Just my tuppence worth.
Bob C.
Or…they weren’t originally built with the intention to haul sheep…That came later, when they realized they could raise sheep just as well as cattle. And just added a second floor to the car to ship them.
The planking was on the inside for the same reason board fences are… to help keep the animals from kicking it OUT. Think about it. The animals won’t bruise that badly on a post, but if all that’s holding them in is a few nails…
Double deck livestock cars are for short animals like sheep and pigs.
When it comes to railroads, the simplest/easiest/cheapest answer is usually the truth.
Mik,
A very good answer and I buy it. It makes sense, and I hadn’t thought of it, but it is the most logical way to do it!
Joe, It comes from growing up on a farm… Nothing makes your whole bloody day like the phrase, “The cows are out!”… especially when it’s pouring a cold, nasty rain…
Horses are just about as stupid as sheep.
Pigs and goats are too smart for their own good.
ALL of them will continually “test” fences to see if they can get loose. And trample your entire garden when they find a weak spot.