From the "Ahead of the Torch" Facebook site:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... =3&theater

Note the gondola in the background of this transfer table restoration at the Elgin County Railroad Museum. I couldn't find anything about the car on their website, so perhaps it isn't even part of the museum. If it is a preserved car, is it rare? I don't seem to recall seeing a lot of gons with round ends. Any info welcome.


Les

I am positive this gon is part of the museum's collection, having been there for a long time. Probably last seved as a MofW car for the C&O in Canada.
From what I seem to remember, it has HV Ry trucks under it (or at least one of the trucks is cast with the Hocking Valley initials).
I am sure someone with more info will be along shortly....
Peter

Peter -

Thanks for the comments. No one else has been along with more info since your posting of 9/5, however I did just run across this additional photo:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=1729680

This shot was taken at the Elgin County Railroad Museum about 10 years ago and the car is identified by photographer Doug Little as being C&O #933406. Unfortunately, the car is too far off in the distance for me to see if this road number is right. If it IS correct, I wonder if this is a maintenance-of-way number, rather than a in-common-carrier-service road number. It still seems to me that this round end gon is rather rare and may be the only one still in existence. Comments from a member of the ECRRM or perhaps the Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society might be able to provide a little information. Still have hope!

Les

Les,
I too am surprised no one else has replied to your inquiry....

It seems there was a lot of former C&O work equipment left behind in Canada. I know of 2 former troop sleepers that were converted for MOW use (both still exist, at least one at the ECRM), the Gon and I believe a couple 40' steel boxcars also at ECRM, a pair of old outside braced wood boxcars (I believe both 50') were up untiil last spring at a farm near Blenheim On. (they were listed in a farm clearing auction which I attended... they were rough, sitting on their trucks, sunk in the dirt to their axles.. but I took a bunch of pics i will try to post soon).
At the farm was also at least one more pair of trucks off I believe another C&O boxcar, and some couplers. Story I got from son of owner was that there was a string of MOW cars parked in a siding at Ridgetown, ON. on the C&O, and that all the steel ones were trucked to Rondeau / Morpeth ON. and put in Lake Erie as part of a breakwall or artificial reef, and the 2 wooden ones were hauled to the farm and used for storage.

I thought these wood boxcars were pretty neat - still had the side steps/running boards under the double doors, end door, side windows, and lots of the MOW racking etc... inside.

Sorry to ramble and get a bit off topic!
Will look for pictures..

Peter

If there's a better picture somewhere (I don't find anything better on Google) is there an ACI tag? The second line might indicate a M/W number. It does look like a rare survivor.

The gon, a flat and 3 boxes are all part of ECRM's collection.
913406, 912357, 910037, 910036, 910008.

R.L.Kennedy -

Thanks for the clarification of the gons road number. I searched the internet and was able to find this photo taken in Flint, Michigan way back in 1989:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=2499815

Obviously this is a Maintenance of Way number that the C&O assigned to the car. Would be nice now if someone from the Chesapeake & Ohio Historical Society could give us a little bit of information on these round end gondolas. If we can't find 913406's original road number, perhaps we can at least find out the series she came from, builder and year built. Anyone from the C&OHS? Anyone?

Les

CO 913406 MofW ex PT-19 (panel track), nee 40961 blt 1930

R.L.K. -

Thanks for the information! Now we know "the rest of the story"!


Les

And then I suddenly find ANOTHER photo of the car, this one taken just this past June! Note that the paint is green now, not black as back in the photo taken in Flint in 1989:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=5158661

Through the fading paint you can just make out the C&O reporting marks and parts of the CHESAPEAKE & OHIO lettering on the side of the car. Also, the "round ends" seem not to quite be round, but more of three straight sides into an arch. I wonder if this is the way the car was made or if the round ends just wore down over the years. Still a rather rare preserved car configuration I would think.

Les

Les,

It's green in the first pic, too, we're just looking at the shady side.

Those are heap shields. "Round ends" make it sound like a boat tail obs.

Dennis -

Thanks for the "heads up" on the green paint. Also thanks for the correct nomenclature for the ends of the gon. Was this common on gondolas? Or on C&O gondolas?

Les

While heap shields may have been used on other roads, the C&O and the Norfolk & Western seem to have had more enthusiasm for them than most. They were also quite common on hopper cars, and on the C&O, came in quite a variety of configurations.

Early 1950s era ribbed side car with added (in the plant) arched ends with notches for a brakeman who may have to climb and walk along a loaded car.

http://rldhobbies.com/images/products/d ... Hopper.jpg

Model image featuring a USRA designed 70 ton triple hopper rebuilt with panel sides and "Dreadnaught" arched ends. The C&O had 50-ton, two bay hoppers built at the plant with ends like this.

http://blog.resincarworks.com/wp-conten ... th_ht1.jpg

Another model image, featuring an AAR Alternate Design car (different riveting/reinforcement pattern) with plain arched ends.

https://www.agelesshobbies.com/images/IMR47155.jpg

While not a car illustrating a heap shield, it's amazing that a C&O hopper from 1909, apparently based on the 1905 Common Standard design (which in turn was based on the PRR GLa), exists in the collection of the Mid-Continent Railway Museum, complete with arch bar trucks!!

https://www.midcontinent.org/equipment- ... hio-50684/

There were a few other variations as well, some on cars built with them, some added to rebuilt cars, and some cars that didn't have them. This was in addition to the variations in car design, size, and capacity--50 ton cars of USRA and Common Standard design or copies, 50 ton two bay offset side cars of AAR Alternate Design (with heap shields of several types, the most common ones on the roster in the 1930s and 1940s), 50 ton AAR Standard design (no heap shields, purchased during WW II), 50 ton War Emergency composite hoppers (rebuilt with steel in the postwar era), 70 ton USRA designed cars in at least two rebuilt configurations, 70 ton AAR-ARA offset side, 4-bay hoppers with heap shields, 70 ton AAR design 3-bay hoppers with heap shields and roller bearing trucks (the latter a pioneering application in hopper cars), a 70-ton 3-bay ribbed side car with heap shiels, a 70-ton 3-bay ACF welded hopper that wasn't entirely successful due to fatigue cracking at welds--and this doesn't include any of the gons!!

Model image of a welded car by Funaro & Camerlengo:

http://www.fandckits.com/images/8370Large.jpg

A variety of heap shield variations are visible here, with one of those welded cars right in front, and a roller bearing car right behind it (marked by the wide white stripe on the side, to warn yard crews of how easily these cars rolled).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Chesapeake-Ohi ... 2186150233

Who says hopper cars all look alike?

A number of other roads--L&N, FEC, Frisco, and no doubt some others--had at least some hoppers with heap shield ends just cut at angles. For you model builders, this is the style Athearn made in HO scale for ages.

https://www.ttnut.com/resources/image/2461

Source (with more photographs):

https://www.ttnut.com/pvm-ex-kemtron-of ... t1020.html

N&W used a variety of angle-cut heap shields.

https://www.greatdecals.com/GreatDecals/nwh9hcns.htm

"Fishbelly side" hopper on the N&W, photo from another model railroad forum.

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/fileSendA ... 22000.jpeg

Source:

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/topic/mth ... ototypical

Finding photos of C&O gons with heap shields and their variations turned out to be difficult. What I think can be said of them is that most if not all were 40 foot cars with relatively high sides (like the subject here) that were meant to carry coal at least occasionally.

One gondola I did find was part of an order for 1,000 cars that were among the "battleship" designs, supposedly good for 100 tons in the 1920s era. N&W and Virginian had such cars, too, big cars on twelve wheels, meant to be unloaded with a rotary dumper and most likely used in what would be unit train service today.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/3d/90/9c ... 00aa2b.jpg

https://www.ttnut.com/resources/image/2496

More Virginian and N&W battleship gon photos here.

https://www.ttnut.com/battleship-gondolas-t1024.html

Who says coal cars are all alike and monotonous? They sure weren't in steam days!!

Boxcar #910008 was scrapped four or five years ago because of its extremely poor condition.

K5a:

Thanks for the update on C&O boxcar #910008. Always hate to lose one of these "steam era" cars.

J3a-614:

Thanks for all of the info, and linked photos. It appears that these "heap shields" were 3 straight pieces at angles on some of the coal (open top) hopper cars, but that it appears the C&O hoppers actually had round "heap shields" ends. Apparently the gondola in question (originally C&O #40961) had the 3 angled type.

Les