FRIENDS FORMER PRR FLATCAR SCHEDULED FOR DELIVERY
ON VALENTINE'S DAY 2017!

The former PRR flatcar generously donated to the Friends organization by Norfolk Southern is scheduled to arrive in Stewartstown via highway transport on Tuesday, February 14, 2017! The Friends plans to convert the flatcar into an open-air excursion car for use on the Stewartstown railroad.

Donations are needed to reach the goal of $3,000 for this project. Funds will be used to cover the move and purchase materials for conversion to an open-air excursion car. Donations can be made online at
https://www.gofundme.com/kth6v-prr-flat ... ation-fund
or directly to the Friends through its website
www.stewartstownfriends.org
or by check or money order payable to the Friends of the Stewartstown Railroad, Inc., and mailed to the Friends at P.O. Box 456, Stewartstown, PA 17363-0456.

We are also in need of volunteers to help paint the frame and build the open-air car. No special skills are necessary, but carpenters (or those who are handy with power tools) are certainly needed. Please contact the crew leader at 717-654-3626 for more information.

PRR Flatcar #473822 is a model F30A built in the PRR Pit Carian shops, 1934.

Thank you for your consideration!

Good evening,

Interesting! Many years ago, an aquaintance of mine had modeled, I believe, this very flat car in extraordinary detail in S scale, as I recall, he won an award from the PRR T&HS at one of their annual meetings. He would have relished the opportunity to access this car in a more reasonable manner to obtain the finer points of detail. He was a dedicated PRR enthusiast and settled for nothing less than an exact scale representation of it.

As did Jimi Hendrix, he "went off" on it, in a similar way, the result was amazing.

As I recall this car's entire main frame is made from a single steel casting?

A very unique find!

Kind regards,

Randy

Hi Randy,

Anyone that wants to come measure or take photographs of the car is more than welcome. It will be located somewhere on the line -- most likely on the Wye track. The entire steel frame is cast iron. Oh, and it has rollerbarings, too.

Nice save, good luck with it.

You wrote; "The entire steel frame is cast iron"

I think maybe you meant "The entire frame is cast steel" ?

Cast iron would have failed a long time ago with all the tension (pulling) forces a railcar experiences.

Enjoy, Kevin.

Tip of the hat to Norfolk Southern, not an important transaction to such a big company but they made a timely decision that resulted in a piece of historic equipment being preserved.

Definitely a nice save, and you can bet this thing will last about 900 years in excursion service. Cast Steel is correct, and it appears many if not all of these were cast by the General Steel Castings Co., likely at the Nicetown, PA plant (Philly).

There are 5 or 6 more of these in daily intra-plant service at Pennsylvania Transformer Technology Co. at Canonsburg, PA, and all have the GSC trademark ("G" inside a shield) on their castings.

Previous post says it has roller bearings but the pix appears to show solid bearings. Or does it have the roller adapters inside the old sideframes? The railroads found these are a hazard because the bearing inside can get really hot before the exterior gets hot enough to trip a thermal detector. That's why these have been banned in interchange, although that may be a railroad by railroad choice rather than an overall FRA ban.

Yes, it has the bearing inserts in a journal type truck frame. Should not be a problem on our rr with slow speeds and only a few miles to run.

We were told it was assembled in Pitcairn, PA and is stenciled "Built 5/34", one of an order of 1,500. I bet those long-ago car builders really appreciated that work in the middle of the depression!

We'll look for the GSC casting mark. It is in remarkable good condition, brakes work, rolls easily, everything seems in fine condition.

We'll post some photos on the Stewartstown Railroad Facebook page and website.

Volunteers are welcome to join us and help restore it and re-purpose it into an opne excursion car.

Great save!

Yes, this one piece cast steel car could lay at the bottom of the ocean for a hundred years and be fine................

Here's what this massive casting looks like without the deck.


Here's a link for some ideas of restoration. The tongue and grove planks are available in pressure treated now. Whether you use paint or vinyl for the lettering. I found the casting was rough in those ares. So you might want to smooth them before lettering is applied.

http://www.prrllc.com/projects_f30d_main.html

Best of luck,

Scott

Are you planning something like the Cass Scenic Railroad passenger cars which were built on logging flat cars?

The PRR Flatcar has arrived in Stewartstown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZ8f7vS68-I