Canda type II stock car

Canda Type II Cattle Car

Built 1889

Get those pesky government regulators off your back with the Silver Crash Car Works.

        Even as the carriage of live animals to market became more and more widespread after the Civil War, so did objections to their suffering en route. In 1872 Congress passed legislation prohibiting stock transporters from confining animals for more than 28 hours without unloading them for feed, water and rest. Enforcement, however, was left to the individual states, and when cars were developed (in the 1880s) which incorporated feed racks and watering pans, many states came to accept their use as a substitute for periodic unloading.
       The railroads themselves were reluctant to invest scarce capital into acquiring these "palace stock cars" which would probably sit idle for most of the year anyway, so private car lines stepped in with cars that could be shifted between regions to meet differing seasonal requirements. Many railroad managers were so satisfied with this arrangement that the vast majority of the stock shipments on their lines were actually carried in private-owner stock cars, rather than in home-road cars.
       Among the most mechanically sophisticated of these private-owner stock cars were the ones designed by Ferdinand E. Canda, president of the Ensign Car Company of Huntington, West Virginia. Our HO scale kit represents Canda's 2nd stock car design, accidentally less familiar to modelers than his 3rd and final design (which was exhibited at the 1893 Columbian Exhibition). The Ensign works apparently built 800 "Type II" cars for the Canda Cattle Car Company in 1889, numbered from 201 to 1000. They were 36' long, and featured roof hatches for both feed and water, plus a central partition and offset side doors allowing the two ends of the car to be loaded independently. The C.C.C.C., based in Chicago, did a fine business renting them to railroads all over the country until 1902, when the firm was bought out by Street's Western Stable Car Line. Street's kept some ex-Canda cars in service well into the teens; it is unclear how long it took for them to be re-lettered.
       Our kit for the Type II car includes high-quality resin castings from Terry and Sue Wellman at St. Charles Model Works, plus the brass strap stock needed to make the supports for the roofwalk ends and brake platform. Trucks, couplers, and other details are not included. Thanks to its intricate watering system, this car will give you a little more modeling enjoyment than some of our simpler kits, but your cows will thank you for the extra effort.


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Outside Dimensions of Car	Length 36'10", Width 9'6", Body Height 9'8" from bottom of sills to top of roofwalk or 10' to top of water hatch
Lettering	The Silver Crash Car Works PAINTING DEPARTMENT offers an official lettering set for 'Canda Stock Cars'. Modelers with layouts set after 1902 might want a set from our very limited supply of decals for 'Street's Western Stable Car Line'. Either is $3 with the kit, $4 without.
Recommended Trucks	The best way to model the 5'3" wheelbase easy-riding Chisholm trucks under these cars is to modify a pair of Bethlehem Car Works 'PSC Arch Bar Trucks' (cat. #135) which have a 5'6" wheelbase and retail for $9.95/pair including wheelsets. The same trucks are also available from Wiseman Model Services for $8.95 including wheelsets. We like to put Kadee® Code 88 ribbed-back 33" diameter wheelsets in our trucks as well.
Estimated Construction Time	Basic kit: 8 hours including grab-irons, brake platform and watering system Options requiring more time: underbody brake rigging
Kits Available From	Silver Crash Car Works ($28)