Nostalgia & History > Chateau Martin CMWX 70

I'm going through some slides and have this one that I have no idea what it is.

It is a wooden boxcar (reefer?), minus trucks, loaded on SP flat car 563603. The trucks are stacked one on top of the other at the far end of the flat. Photo taken July 1971 in San Jose.

The car appears to be plywood sides, rounded roof, board by board construction on the end. There is lettering, "home for repairs AAR rule 120 do not load."

I've done some searching and have found a pic of something similar but no info as to what it was. The pic I found had board by board construction.

I have an HO model from the days before plastic. (Laconia?) The construction is a wooden box with printed paper sides. It is Chateau Martin CMWX 118.

In searching around, Chateau Martin seemed to show up with eastern railroads. I've thought it was a California name, and the pic WAS in San Jose.

Anybody know what I have here? Is this a car that is now on display in a museum somewhere?

jb

Years ago I photographed this, or another like it, in no. California, I can't seem to locate the shot
at present. I think it was at Oakdale, but not sure. It was the only time I ever saw such a car.

Keith A

After the bulk milk business tanked in the Northeast, Chateau Martin bought or leased a batch of old milk tank cars for wine service. These house cars had insulated tanks inside. In the past few months there was a post on TO concerning a modern version.

Wooden Chateau Martin wine car:
http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/rolling-stock/Soph-Marty/Freight-Cars-C/CMWX-119.jpg

Steel version:
http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/rolling-stock/Soph-Marty/Freight-Cars-C/CMWX-1068.jpg

The steel car is definitely a former GPEX milk car. One of these survives in service today as the power car for the RJ Corman business train. (A former GPEX milk car, not a former Chateau Martin wine car.)

Thanks,

It doesn't look like I have a "one of a kind" car here. There must have been a fleet.

So these cars had a tank inside? They weren't loaded with square cases on a pallet?

The 119 is board by board construction. Mine looks like weather worn plywood. The words are different.

The 1068 has the same wording (lettering?) as my pic.

And, yes, I had also found references to tank/milk cars.

Was/is this a California company?

jb

jdb Wrote:

> It doesn't look like I have a "one of a kind" car
> here. There must have been a fleet.

There was, but it was a small fleet, 25-50 cars, I'd guess. Definitely not common, even if not one-of-a-kind.
>
> So these cars had a tank inside? They weren't
> loaded with square cases on a pallet?

Yes, they carried bulk wine in tanks. Apparently, CM had bottlers around the country.

> The 119 is board by board construction. Mine
> looks like weather worn plywood. The words are
> different.

It's likely that some cars were re-sheathed with plywood at some point. Not an uncommon practice: I've seen cabooses, for example, on several railroads (MEC, CPR, LHR, RDG, GN) that had the original t&g siding replaced with plywood.

> The 1068 has the same wording (lettering?) as my
> pic.

Could be the lettering standards changed at some point, or perhaps a contract paint shop introduced its own variations.

> Was/is this a California company?

I think it was. Can't say for sure; I'm a beer man, myself!

I used to often see these cars, or one of them, sitting in Newhall Yard. If I recall correctly, they were relativly short, maybe 30 to 35 feet at the most. I do recall they had what I thought was a definite European look to them.

Chateau Martin winery was at Montpelier, CA (14 miles southeast of Modesto) on the SP's Oakdale Branch. These cars were regulars on the Oakdale Branch trains; the biggest bunch of them that I saw was four at one time. They came in several different body styles.

Even after the wine making facility in Waterford CA shut down, the Chateau Martin company continued to operate a rebuild and painting facility in Waterford at the north end of the old wine making buildings. This went on into the early 1970's. Access to Waterford was from Oakdale giving the Oakdale Local out of Stockton the job to make infrequent runs all the way down to Waterford to deliver or pick up refurbished wine tank cars. We used to store one or two of the CMWX tanks on a spur in Oakdale until there was a need to make a trip to Waterford and deliver or pick up freshly painted tanks. Trips to Waterford were maybe one a month or less. I missed making a trip to Waterford by one day back in 1971.

The freshly painted tanks were a work of art on the outside. Driving through Waterford one could often see the crew rebuilding and painting in the outdoor facility. They would take the worn out cars and transform them into a thing of beauty.