It was only natural given the configuration of the troop sleeper and kitchen cars for these to see continued use under the ownership of a number of railroads in Maintenance of Way service. While over their time in service some were modified to varying degrees the cars represented a less expensive way for roads to get cars that would be suitable for various work crews, as well as some special ones. On this page you will find a variety of links to troop cars that were placed in MofW service, but it is worth noting that photos of cars that received no changes (blanking of windows, etc) are not included... the purpose of these links are to highlight changes that some users made to the cars to better suit their needs. Also included are cars that remained under military ownership that were rebuilt to guard - generator cars, which could prove to be another modeling project worth pursuing.
Some conversions are not covered by the images that are provided but they are worth mentioning. Among them were troop cars that were rebuilt as cabooses in temporary assignments, which include cars for the B&O, C&O, Monon and Western Maryland, which by and large left the carbodies intact but with the curved grab irons installed on either side of the side door. Included are the Alaska RR., Bangor & Aroostook and Detroit & Makinack cabooses are included.
One note about the huge roster of Chesapeake & Ohio cars. When I first found the many links from George Elwood's Railroad Fallen Flags site I noticed that the modifications made to various cars followed a pattern, with only a few variations among them. Where possible both sides are included but in looking at them it is possible to see how the patterns were for specific types of cars (sorry, do not know exactly what their designations nor specifications of the various patterns). Hopefully these will help to modelers to gain a few ideas in what might be reasonable patterns to follow if so desired.
I cannot promise you that all links will remain working since I have no control over this. To email me about a "broken" link just click here.
U.S. ARMY TROOP CAR CONVERSIONS - NON-REVENUE CARS
ARR RAC2 - (ex-USA) remote controlled car rblt. from boxcar, originally troop sleeper. (RR - FALLEN FLAGS)