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 Post subject: Re: Speaking of old, small flatcars.....
PostPosted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 2:20 pm 

Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2007 2:54 am
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Location: Califoothills / Midwest Prairies / PNW
To my eyes that is the same exact truck on the PRR flatcar shown in a link, earlier in this thread.


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 Post subject: Re: Speaking of old, small flatcars.....
PostPosted: Sun Feb 26, 2012 7:44 pm 

Joined: Fri Mar 05, 2010 3:41 am
Posts: 3911
Location: Inwood, W.Va.
Tie in to a new thread on the preservation of a naval rifle, and its movement to a naval artillery museum:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=32938&p=172106#p172106


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 Post subject: Re: Speaking of old, small flatcars.....
PostPosted: Sun Feb 26, 2012 8:23 pm 

Joined: Thu Aug 05, 2010 2:06 am
Posts: 329
Am I looking with too much optimism, or is there a "PRR" cast into the stake pocket on that IATR car?...mld


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 Post subject: Re: Speaking of old, small flatcars.....
PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 12:14 pm 

Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm
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mldeets wrote:
Am I looking with too much optimism, or is there a "PRR" cast into the stake pocket on that IATR car?...mld


mld -

Boblenon, who took the two posted photos of the IATR snowplow/flatcar says that he took some other photos. Maybe he's got a closeup shot of that stake pocket. Can we hope so?

Les


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 Post subject: Re: Speaking of old, small flatcars.....
PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 12:22 pm 
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Location: Between Things
Streetcar flatcars at OERM.

http://railfan44.rrpicturearchives.net/ ... x?id=76596

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 Post subject: Re: Speaking of old, small flatcars.....
PostPosted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 12:28 pm 

Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm
Posts: 6400
railfan44 wrote:


Marty -

VERY interesting cars!

Les


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 Post subject: Re: Speaking of old, small flatcars.....
PostPosted: Tue Feb 28, 2012 1:00 am 

Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2008 12:05 am
Posts: 173
Location: Albuquerque, NM
J3a-614 wrote:
A couple of notes about that former "gun flat:"

One, of course, it that it is a fabricated car, as can be seen by the rivets.

Two, take a look at the builder's photos of the PRR F-22 and F-23, and note that these cars have a nominal capacity of 190,000 lbs. (95 tons) for the F-22 and 150,000 lbs. (75 tons) for the F-23, and both were built on arch bar trucks!

I won't say Mike's comments about the trucks being changed out by IATR are wrong, but I do note, at least in this photo, that they look hefty for arch bar trucks. with large journals, like what you would see under a steam wrecker--another place to see high-capacity trucks of this type.

I wonder what the story really is.

Now that I've seen a good photo of those trucks, I'm sure you're right; they're the same as the trucks used by DRGW's Alco-Cooke rotaries (except for the springs; the rotaries have rubber disks instead). Of course, a shot of those stake pockets would be nice...

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 Post subject: Re: Speaking of old, small flatcars.....
PostPosted: Sun May 07, 2017 2:53 am 

Joined: Fri Mar 05, 2010 3:41 am
Posts: 3911
Location: Inwood, W.Va.
On my Facebook page is a link to a group of modelers who are primarily interested in pre-Depression era railroading. Among them is a German gentleman named Bernd Schröter--and here is a prototype photo of one of his projects.

http://us-modelsof1900.de/?p=9785

The load is a Variable Density Tunnel, an early wind tunnel device built for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA, a NASA predecessor).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_Density_Tunnel

Of interest here is the flat car. . .length, 36 feet, built in April of 1920, and rated for an amazing 240,000 pounds, or 120 tons! It, and the Variable Density Tunnel, are stencilled for Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company.

The model builder believes this car may have only been used to move the Variable Density Tunnel to a dock for shipment by water. His model incorporates an air brake system that seems absent on the prototype (no hoses visible), though it seems a bit unusual that such a car, restricted to in-plant service at a shipyard, would have the full stenciling you would expect on a car for interchange service.

In any event, this looked to be something to "add to the file" on such flat cars.

The model builder's site in German:

http://us-modelsof1900.de/?p=9669

A posting on the construction of the model, with photos of the prototype load, in English:

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/20932

A more extensive gallery.

http://us-modelsof1900.de/?p=9785

Enjoy!

EDIT: More on the Variable Density Tunnel and its preservation, although the building that housed it was demolished in 2014:

https://crgis.ndc.nasa.gov/historic/1226#VDT

Of note is that as the model builder commented, and the photos seem to prove, is that the VDT was rolled to its location as you would roll a barrel!


Last edited by J3a-614 on Mon May 08, 2017 12:25 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Speaking of old, small flatcars.....
PostPosted: Sun May 07, 2017 3:12 pm 

Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm
Posts: 6400
J3a-614:

Thanks for posting the photo montage of NNS&DD Company flat car #41 built in 1920. Makes me wonder if some of the other cars mentioned in this 5 year old thread still exist. Including the two "short flats" (#100 and 101) at the Berger Power Pipe plant in Donora, PA, which were supposedly former C&O cars. Also the Iowa Terminal equipment, possibly ex-PRR. And of course, wondering if the SC&S operation in Freeport, IL still has U.S. Army flat #35359 so lettered, or if they had to repaint and letter it.


Les


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 Post subject: Re: Speaking of old, small flatcars.....
PostPosted: Sun May 07, 2017 3:40 pm 

Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2014 5:05 pm
Posts: 1227
Here are two recent shots of the IT snow plow:

2014 http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675 ... sea-target

2015 http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=4311131


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 Post subject: Re: Speaking of old, small flatcars.....
PostPosted: Mon May 08, 2017 12:17 am 

Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm
Posts: 6400
Les Beckman wrote:
J3a-614:

wondering if the SC&S operation in Freeport, IL still has U.S. Army flat #35359 so lettered, or if they had to repaint and letter it.


Les


Checking their website, it appears that the car has been converted into an open bench car for passengers:

http://www.thefreeportshow.com/r_flat_green_full.jpg

Note that the U.S. Army lettering and car number have been painted over.


Les


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 Post subject: Re: Speaking of old, small flatcars.....
PostPosted: Mon May 08, 2017 12:52 pm 

Joined: Sat Apr 01, 2006 5:19 pm
Posts: 567
Location: Bowie, MD
Somewhat OT: In April of 1985, I was stationed on the carrier USS America, which was in Portsmouth, VA in the shipyards. The carrier Coral Sea, just finishing training and scheduled to deploy overseas, messed up off Cuba and collided with a large tanker ship, damaging the carrier's bow and superstructure back by the carrier's "island."

Some photos of the Coral Sea:

http://syslblog.blogspot.com/2013/06/collision-at-sea.html

This caught our attention because if Coral Sea couldn't deploy, they would likely move our deployment date up.

About 4-5 weeks later, we watched as the "Sea" came up the river and prepared to drydock. On the way out to visit some of the local "dives" a group of us watched her dock. At first glance, the damage was sobering. No doubt, America would pulled out of the yards early, rushed through work ups and family plans, life plans for 5,000 folks disrupted; weddings rushed, families moved home earlier than expected, etc..

But even as the water receded, I looked up the dry dock, towards the huge yard assembly buildings, to see a new bow section, already assembled, coming down the dock, somehow perched on two of these short heavy duty flats, with a couple more as spacers, pushed by a Alco RS unit.

While my buddies headed to beer, I grabbed a snack at a nearby shack, and watched. Before the water was out of the dock, workers were cutting off damaged material. The next day, they hoisted the new bow into the dock using two of the massive Warner and Swasey rail mounted cranes. In another day, they had it lifted into place and sort of tack welded in place. Meanwhile, those flats and RS unit shuffled back and forth collecting the scrap. It took them another week or so to finish up the exterior work. The "Sea" made her deployment more or less on time and our schedule was not impacted.

It was an impressive display of industrial might and clearly the result of much experience.

Bob


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 Post subject: Re: Speaking of old, small flatcars.....
PostPosted: Tue May 09, 2017 12:55 am 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 8:51 pm
Posts: 2041
Location: Southern California
Les Beckman wrote:
railfan44 wrote:
Marty -
VERY interesting cars!
Les
These cars have a composite underframe. What is even more interesting is that for a period of time (IIRC from the 'teens into the 1930s) the cars were equipped with Tomlinson couplers. Then they were fitted up with the Jenney/MCB style couplers

Here is a link to a photo in the Huntington Library's digital collection that shows the one-of-a-kind, heavy-duty version of these cars in December 1922 with the Tomlinson Coupler. Zoom in on the end of the car on the left and you'll see the Tomlinson coupler:
220kV transformer being transferred from Southern Pacific railroad to Los Angeles Railway

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 Post subject: Re: Speaking of old, small flatcars.....
PostPosted: Tue May 09, 2017 9:05 am 

Joined: Thu Aug 26, 2004 2:50 pm
Posts: 2815
Location: Northern Illinois
Interesting photo. It looks like the work in progress is transferring those tank halves from the "steam road" flatcar they were delivered on to the street railway car for transport to their final point of use, by the simple expedient of sliding them across on rails.

It's easy to forget, in our highly mechanized world, that at one time railroads (even street railways) were the best way to haul a heavy load, and most of the operating properties had small fleets of specialized cars to do this sort of work for their own account.

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 Post subject: Re: Speaking of old, small flatcars.....
PostPosted: Tue May 09, 2017 10:35 am 

Joined: Sun Aug 22, 2004 8:51 pm
Posts: 2041
Location: Southern California
The Huntington has a large group of views of the construction in 1913-15 of the original Eagle Rock receiving station and then its expansion in the early 1920s. It was the southern end of the high tension transmission line from the "Big Creek" hydro-electric project in the Sierra Nevada Mountains east of Fresno.

The collection has more photos of the components of the transformers being transferred and then ready to move at night. These moves in 1922-23 were about 4 to 5 miles on the streetcar lines and then about another mile into the hillside canyon construction site.

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