Pennsylania RR F-36 flatcar.

rayg01 · **Joined:** Wed Dec 24, 2008 1:14 am **Posts:** 4

Hi all!

Through the efforts of a friend and consultant (and member of this discussion board) Lake Shore Railway Historical Society, North East, Pennsylvania, has been able to acquire the last known Pennsylvania Railroad F-36 flatcar (circa 1940). The car made it to PRR successor PennCentral and was upgraded to an F-36a (we believe the "a" means it got rebuilt with roller bearings, some other improvements and a steel deck). We do not know the car's exact number as it has been painted, painted, and repainted again many times. It no longer has ANY of its brake rigging or brake system, but is otherwise in good shape for a 68+ year old car that is not supposed to exist. We plan to re-assemble it soon (it is now in three big parts; two trucks and deck) and paint it back to PRR appropriate scheme this summer. The best online resource we have discovered for this car is

http://prr.railfan.net/freight/classpage.html?class=F36

Other experts were involved in identifying the car too, and they will be recognized in a more personal way by Lake Shore.

My question, does anyone have in their collections images that they can share of these cars while in use? We are also looking for photos and / or drawings of what the brake rigging would look like. It has three-axle Buckeye trucks, but every piece of brake equipment is gone so we have no clues.

The car has been in use for many years at a forge/foundry nearby. (The same forge/foundry also donated to Lake Shore an operable 25 ton GE locomotive recently.)

Responses can be made directly to me at rayg01@velocity.net

Thank you!

(and thanks Randy!)

Ray Grabowski, Jr.
Lake Shore Railway Historical Society
North East, PA

Scott Kwiatkowski · **Posted:** Wed Feb 25, 2009 9:51 pm

Ray,

Congratulation on the acquisition of your flat car, nice to see a six axle car being saved.

The PRR T & HS has just published a book on PRR flat cars and has some great info on F36’s.

Feel free to send me a note on specific questions. I have had some luck finding original number of PRR cars.

Scott Kwiatkowski
www.prrllc.com
info@prrllc.com

Les Beckman · **Joined:** Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm **Posts:** 6482

rayg01 wrote:

Hi all!

Through the efforts of a friend and consultant (and member of this discussion board) Lake Shore Railway Historical Society, North East, Pennsylvania, has been able to acquire the last known Pennsylvania Railroad F-36 flatcar (circa 1940). The car made it to PRR successor PennCentral and was upgraded to an F-36a (we believe the "a" means it got rebuilt with roller bearings, some other improvements and a steel deck). We do not know the car's exact number as it has been painted, painted, and repainted again many times.

Ray Grabowski, Jr.
Lake Shore Railway Historical Society
North East, PA

Ray -

Congrats on getting this car! We have a somewhat similar problem with a Pennsy class F30d flat car at our museum. These cars were originally numbered by the PRR 475300-475549 when they were built in 1951. In 1957-58, 86 of these cars were sold to Trailer Train which renumbered them 475001-475086. Obviously not the same numbers as used by the PRR. The museum would like to repaint the car into its old PRR paint and number, but we have gone over the car carefully, and are unable to find any hint of the old road number. I talked to Trailer Train a few years ago, and they told me they have no record of which Pennsylvania Railroad car became which TTX car. If we are unable to find a number when we needlescale TTX 475037, we are just going to have to give the car one of the numbers in the original 1951 series.

Good luck Ray, with your restoration of the F36 car.

Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, Indiana)