Layout Ideas: Detroit & Mackinac (Rolling Stock)

In my last post I showed off some locomotives available in HO with Detroit & Mackinac paint schemes. There wasn't much to choose from and they are nearly impossible to track down. This post however, will focus on D&M rolling stock, some of which is available through various online retailers.

We'll start with a common 50' box car. There were plenty of these on the D&M roster with varying groups of road numbers. From what I've seen online so far, most of these box cars were the dark red color shown below. They typically had the "Detroit & Mackinac" text in white on the right side and the "DM" on the left with the road number just below that.

50' Box Car, Detroit & Mackinac #2275

Here is a look at the model I found from Athearn. At first glance, it looks to pretty close to the prototype shown above. This one is even in the 2200's just like the one shown. The main elements all seem to match up, there is just some small text here and there missing on the model. The one thing that may be off is the roof on the model. It is shown as grey, but the prototype looks to have a dark red roof. Maybe its just the lighting, but definitely something I would like to confirm.

Athearn RTR 50' Box Car, Detroit & Mackinac #2217

Up next we have another box car, this time a 50' double door round roof box car. This one appears to be the same color scheme as the first, but the condenser "DM" on the left side has been replaced with a more spread out "D & M" lettering.

50' Round Roof Box Car, Detroit & Mackinac #3418

Here is a look at the model I found from Bowser on the Walthers website. It looks to be pretty close to the prototype other than the color of the roof and a few small markings on either side of the doors. It would be neat if the doors opened, but I don't think that is the case.

Bowser 50' Double Door Box Car, Detroit & Mackinac #3433

Now we have a covered hopper car. These are a bit shorter than the 50' box cars and come in a black and white paint scheme. I like the way they have the large "D" for Detroit and "M" for Mackinac, it makes it pretty easy to identity them. The one shown here is pretty beat up and would make for a great looking weathered model.

Covered Hopper Car, Detroit & Mackinac #6126

Here is a look at the model I found, this time from the Athearn ready to roll series. This one also looks very much like the prototype other than a few small details. This one would just need some weathering and it would be good to go.

Athearn Covered Hopper Car, Detroit & Mackinac #6114

The last one we have for today is a 2-bay offset side hopper car. These were open on the top and came in a black paint scheme with white lettering. These are pretty nice looking if you ask me, especially with the way the rivets are visible all along the side.

2-Bay Offset Side Hopper Car, Detroit & Mackinac #7033

Here's a look at the model I found from Atlas. Overall, it is pretty close to the prototype, but there are some differences with the text. The placement seems to be lower on the model and the "Detroit & Mackinac" font seems to be much smaller. Then there is what looks like a large white placard on the mode that is not seen on the prototype.

Atlas Trainman 2-Bay Offset Side Hopper, Detroit & Mackinac #5006

That's it for now. There are some other pieces out there, but I will save them for another day. If I ever happen to land one of the locomotives, these will not be far behind, especially the 50' box cars as I remember seeing tons of them as a kid when I would watch the D&M trains roll through northern Michigan.