Periodes of service

[Dna9656]

 I noticed (jn the 2016 catalog) that Bachmann has addressed many different historical periods in history. there are Older steam engine with what I assume are appropriate rolling stock, the following generations of steam, the "Prairie, Mikados, Challengers, Big Boys etc. all with time period appropriate rolling stock.
I was hoping to find appropriate rolling stock for my Milwaukee, Chicago & Puget Sound (later changer to Chicago, Milwaukee & Pacific) Rail Road. The MC & PS operated in the first 12 years or so of the 20th century. I would also like to have cars and engines appropriate to the years after it became the Chicago, Milwaukee & Pacific.
  Now I figure the rolling stock such as box cars, refrigerater cars and cabooses were on frames of steel and the super structures were made of wood. Tank cars and grain, coal, as such....I don't know for sure but I assume they were steel.
Having said all that...
Does Bachmann have rolling stock identifiable as being correct for my road in my periods in history? Is there a reason I do not see periods of use listed with the cars in the catalogs?
I have researched the internet and found some great sites (http://www.craigmagnuson.com/laconia1.htm) and (https://www.mrha.com) and will more closely check them out, in the mean time can anyone give me some pictures or examples of the rolling stock I need?
Yes, I am new to the hobby!
Thanks!

[Piyer]

Your second link - the Milwaukee Road's historical society - as well as their Facebook page / group, and the Milwaukee Road modelers' Facebook group, as probably the best resources you'll find for getting precise information about specific equipment of a specific era.

Now, in general terms.....

Rolling stock was generally of wooden construction with truss-rodded wooden underframes at the beginning of the 20th century. Yes, tank car bodies were metal. "Grain cars" would have been boxcars with grain doors nailed in place inside the door openings - covered hoppers were several decades away for this service. Coal cars were all over the place: some companies were on the cusp of conventional hoppers either in steel or steel frames with wooden sides (composition cars), while some were using what amounted to a large gondola with truss rod frame. This is where prototype research is a must. Cabooses were not always steel framed. In theory, they would have appeared earlier in locations with pusher grades, and later in places without such grades - an un-reinforced caboose would have to be uncoupled and relocated to behind the pusher locomotive, thus adding time to task and resulting in switching at the top of the grade instead of just being able to cut the pusher off at speed.

If you are very serious about wanting to model a specific railroad in a specific era, then definitely research things before you buy anything - just because model X represents era Y equipment does not mean that prototype Z had any of them. On the other hand, if you just looking to avoid obvious anachronisms - Amtrak moving troops during the Civil War, a Big Boy in 1910 Seattle - then go with what looks right to you. What I can say for certain is that the father back from present that one sets their layout, the scarcer ready to run equipment gets and the more one needs to rely on one's skills at kitbashing and scratchbuilding. Don't let that scare you away. The Pacific extension is quite an interesting piece of railroading, and modeling it in its early days will make for a beautiful and distinct model railroad.

All the best with your plans!

~AJK