Les,

That thought about the trucks being reveresed and asymmetrical occurred to me too, but I had to dismiss it because it seems so improbable to have the trucks being asymmetrical about their center line. I did not take time to look at all the other photos, but if they all have this appearance, as you say, then it must be a standard arrangement.

So that really raises an interesting and highly perplexing question as to how these trucks functioned. What in the world is going on with that mechanism in the truck bolster/spring plank area?

Another interesting feature of these trucks is the cross piece with the curved offset. I assume that is wood cut to that shape for a clearance with something to do with the coupler or draft gear. That curved cross bar is only used on one end of each truck. The opposite cross bars are straight.

In studying those trucks, I conclude that the compression springs over the journal boxes are the only spring suspension, and that the bolster is solidly connected to the truck side frames. I believe the detail under the bolster on one of the two trucks is mechanism associated with the brakes.

The detail is on the hand brake end, and it appears that only that truck has brake shoes that are mounted on the inside area between the wheels. It looks like there are no brakes on the other truck.

Yes, they are all that way. These are not swing motion trucks; the only springing is in the pedestals over the journal boxes. The pedestals bolt to a wooden frame; two transoms connect the side frame members near the center, and carry the center plate.

Nor do these cars have air brakes, so only the truck at the hand brake end has any brakes at all. What you are seeing below the transoms is the ends of inside hung brake beams, as you scroll through the pix you'll find they are always in the truck adjacent to the hand brake.

Here is the exception that proves the rule:

http://www.library.upenn.edu/collection ... ar-28.html

This car has outside hung brake beams on the near truck, and you'll note that the center of both trucks is completely open.

Someplace at home I have the Gregg reprint of the 1879 Car Builder's dictionary. If I can find it I'll see if it has any drawings of similar trucks.

One other thing to note; none of the builders photos of tank cars in this collection show the safety valves mounted in the elbow at the side of the dome. The tank at the WW&F has this valve on the side of the dome, while the tank Rick found shows a circular patch riveted where it would have been located. The 1922 Car Builder's Cyclopedia presents ARA standards information that calls this the "1916 Design", but photos in the 1906 Car Builder's Dictionary also show safety valves of this design, but without elaboration. Of course, by the very nature of the design of these valves, they could be added later, and most likely were.

Unfortunately, both tanks are missing their threaded lids.

Edit: Ron posted about the brakes while I was screwing around looking for the safety valve info.

Thoughts on the trucks...

They are wood frame, with each journal box sprung separately within the pedestal. There is no equalization as found in a passenger truck, and likely no bolster springing.

This was not an uncommon design before the Civil War, and was used commonly on Western disconnect log trucks.

Randy Hees

From the 1879 Car Builder's Dictionary.

Yesterday a friend gave me a copy of Harsco Track Technologies 100th anniversary book, which came out in 2009. While the book posits that Harsco's Fairmont division is the anchor of its claim to 100 years of success, it notes that Harsco Corporation, its parent company, was originally Harrisburg Steel Co. Harrisburg Steel traces its lineage to 1893 and the Harrisburg Pipe & Pipe Bending Co. That company came into existence to pick up the pieces of Harrisburg Car Manufacturing Co. So, that seems to indicate that Harsco Corp. is the modern day successor of Harrisburg Car Manufacturing Co. of 1855.

The book, by the way, has some really cool images of various railroad and other equipment that Fairmont built over the years, engravings of early plants and even a couple photos of experimental tanks built for use in Europe during World War I.

It only took 2 years and a heroic contribution from an NRHS chapter member to save this 1890 Harrisburg tank car, which was literally days away from the scrapping. Our chapter thought we had it donated to us, but the land it was on failed an environmental test and the whole parcel became a football between the city, county, old owner, and new owner. We lost touch with the old owners, political contacts due to elections, etc, and when I finally got the contacts for the new owner, he told me "I think they've already starting cutting it up." He would donate it, so we had to buy it, but by golly, we got her!

Here she is next to our 40' 1951 Southern Rwy boxcar...

Matt Bumgarner
Alexander Chapter-NRSH

Matt -

I assume you meant to say that the new owner wouldn't donate the car. Congrats to your group on saving this interesting piece of railroad history. And a special thanks to the NRHS chapter member who came up with the contribution to seal the deal!

Now about trucks for the car......!


Les

Railtown 1897 State Historic Park - the Sierra Railway shops at Jamestown, California, has Pickering tank car #603, composed of an 1890 dated Harrisburg Car Company tank sitting on a former Standard Lumber/Pickering Lumber log car as an underframe. Add one more to the survivors.