Clearing Up a Misperception

Santa Fe Caswell design GS gondola ATSF 171033 from class Ga- 5, Reading Yards, Rutherford, Pennsylvania,  June 19. 1947, Bob Charles Collection, Kalmbach Memorial Library 

There is a perception that GS gondolas (GS = "An Open Top Car, having fixed sides and ends and drop bottom, consisting of doors hinged at center sills to dump outside of rails," per the Official Railway Equipment Register) were West Coast cars and if you model the Northeast, Southeast, mid-Atlantic, etc., you don't have need for these on your layout*. I understand that notion. However, it is not correct. Granted, if you model western Massachusetts, for example, you should not have a gondola fleet comprised of 50% GS gons. That said, in a roster of solid bottom ("GB") gondolas, you could and would see GS gondolas from a variety of roads and should have a few in your fleet to mix into operating sessions. I have included some photos of GS gons in locales that support my contention (one shared by Richard Hendrickson and that I discussed with him on more than one occasion.)

C&EI 90108 was also of Caswell design, although it had received steel sheathing in place of the wood by the time it was photographed on February 10, 1952 in Columbus, Ohio, by Col. Chet McCoid. The doors were held in the "up" position using Wine door locks. Bob's Photo

Numerous fine models of GS gons have been offered over the years in both styrene and resin. The reason for and timing of this post is that I am working on a new pilot model for a styrene offering that one, is a GS-type gon like described in the previous paragraph, e.g. "western" GS gon, and two, is a fine example of contemporary HO scale technology, with fine tooling and separate details. Stay tuned for more about this model in the coming days...

Chicago & Illinois Western 1247 (ex-IC gon) was photographed in Aberdeen, North Carolina on October 30, 1951 by Col. Chet McCoid. Bob's Photo

The Burlington had a large fleet of composite GS gons that employed composite, Murphy or Dreadnaught ends. They also used Wine door locks. Note that there were not doors in all locations; from left, panels 2 and 4 had doors in the corresponding floor locations. Reading Yards, Rutherford, Pennsylvania, August 24, 1947, Bob Charles Collection, Kalmbach Memorial Library

*one caveat is that I am referring to and advocating for GS gons of the upper Midwest, Northwest, Mountain West, Southwest and West Coast; if you model western Massachusetts as the example I cited, you would quite likely see GS gons from the B&M, MEC or CN, as well, as they (and not too many other Eastern roads) did have modest fleets of GS gons 

Enterprise Gondolas

 

Note the Murphy-type corrugated steel ends. Ralston Steel Car Co. photo, from Columbus Railroads web site (although I cannot find the exact citation at present)

One of the most visually distinctive cars of the Steam and Transition Eras was the GS (General Service) gondola with drop doors and appliances to allow the doors to be locked or deployed to release the cargo. These cars are generally associated with Western roads, although there were small quantities on roads like the Boston & Maine, Maine Central, and New Haven (note that I am not including the more traditional-looking gons of the N&W, C&O, etc., with full length straight side sills and more simple drop doors, usually four in total, as they are quite different in appearance and operation.)

The SP gons used a flat end with two braces. Ralston Steel Car Co. photo, from Columbus Railroads web site (although I cannot find the exact citation at present)

Even more distinctive-looking were the "Enterprise" gondolas of the Union Pacific and Southern Pacific. They incorporated small sloped sections at the bottom of the interior of the sides, that made them look "short" compared to other gons. Besides the small sloped section of the sides, the distinguishing feature, and what made these "Enterprise" gondolas, was the mechanism that allowed the doors to be lowered. It consisted of "links" that when the rod on which they were threaded was turned, they "unfolded" until the doors were lowered and the links, fully extended, held the doors in an open position. In reverse, the links efficiently folded up. It was an ingenious design. The photo of SP 46954, from class G-50-9, illustrates how the links appeared when the doors were in the dropped and open position.

Road	Series Begin	Series End	Qty	Built	Builder	Class
UP	62000	62999	1000	1920	RSC	G-50-7
UP	63000	63999	1000	1920	PC&M	G-50-7
AE	4000	4025	26	1923	GATC	G-50-9
PE	5700	5899	200	1923	GATC	G-50-9
PE	5900	5999	100	1923	GATC	G-50-9
PE	6000	6099	100	1923	RSC	G-50-9
SP	46155	46604	450	1923	GATC	G-50-9
SP	46605	47079	475	1923	RSC	G-50-9
PE	20000	20599	600	1924	GATC	G-50-9
SP	91400	92399	1000	1925	TCI&RR	G-50-10
SP	92400	92899	500	1926	PSC	G-50-11
SP	92900	93899	1000	1927	SSC	G-50-12

GATC - General American Transportation

PC&M - Pullman Car & Manufacturing

PSC - Pressed Steel Car

RSC - Ralston Steel Car

SSC - Standard Steel Car

TCI&RR - Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad

UP diagram states series 63000-63999 built 1920, but photo evidence indicates majority of cars built in 1921

The cars were rated at a respectable cubic capacity of 1776 cu. ft. with an inside length of 41 ft. 6 in. (for comparison, the SP's steel and composite GS gons built in the 40s had listed cubic capacities between 1776 and 1948 cu. ft.) The accompanying table lists the information for both roads' cars. They represented significant groups of cars for both, especially the SP, where they were a signature car from the 20s into the 50s. The SP/PE cars were shuffled around a bit and were then renumbered entirely in 1956 as part of the systemwide renumbering. The accompanying table traces those changes.

Reporting	Series Start	Series End	Built	Qty.	Class	1956 Series	Notes
SP	14112	14442	1924	331	G-50-9	360002-360304	1
SP	44160	44359	1923-4	200	G-50-9	360305-360457	2
SP	44361	44428	1923	69	G-50-9	360458-360511	3
SP	46155	46604	1923	450	G-50-9	360512-360789
SP	46605	47079	1923	475	G-50-9	360790-361054
SP	91301	91325	1923	25	G-50-9	361055-361068	4
T&NO	42250	42449	1923-4	200	G-50-9	---	5
SP	91400	92399	1925	1000	G-50-10	361098-361993
SP	92400	92899	1926	500	G-50-11	361994-362376
SP	92900	93899	1927	1000	G-50-12	362377-363024

1 - transferred from PE 20000-series in 1951

2 - transferred from PE 5900- [100 cars], 6000- [16] and 20000-series [84]

3 - transferred from PE 6000-series

4 - ex-Arizona Eastern; transferred to SP in 1924

5 - transferred from PE 20000-series in 1929 [100 cars]; Dec 1940 from PE 6000-series [15] and 20000-series [85]

The three cars shown in this photo are all UP G-50-7s and clearly illustrate the Murphy-style corrugated ends. "Council Bluffs Iowa Railroad Strike,"Feb 6, 1951, Robert Paskach photo, Robert Paskach Collection, The Durham Museum

Many of the SP cars from classes -9 and -10 had the lower side sections and slope sheets replaced by welding new steel in place, as illustrated in this photo of G-50-10, with its palindromic number 361163 (some cars also included a relatively small number of rivets, as well.) This was because the side and slope sheet sections were a single piece. On the G-50-11 and G-50-12 classes the side sheets and slope sheets were separate sections, with the top of the slope sections overlapping the bottom of the side sheets, creating an "edge" inside the carbody where the two met, Bob's Photo

SP 92622, a G-50-11, shows the separate side sheets, riveted along the bottom edge of the side sheet sections. Given that the side and slope sheets were distinct parts, repairs presumably involved only the component requiring maintenance as opposed to the entire side and slope sheet section, unless both required work, of course. Indio, California, Mar 11, 1956, Col. Chet McCoid photo, Bob's Photo

Northern Pacific GS Gondolas

 

Two prototype photos, Minnesota Transportation Museum or Minnesota Historical Society (uncertain,) courtesy of James Dick and Aaron Gjermundson

After Springfield, I had posted some info about the PRR G22 gondolas, including the upcoming Rapido offerings and other HO scale models, and followed up with my G22 modeling efforts. What I forgot to do was post about the Northern Pacific GS gondolas that are also coming from Rapido featuring a joint effort with the NPRHA (links to gondola and wood chip car reservations.) The NP had two groups of virtually identical cars built in 1940 by Pressed Steel (car nos. 50000-50499) and by the NP's Brainerd, Minnesota shops (car nos. 50500-50749.) The photos directly above and below are of the series built in 1949 by the NP. The earlier cars are quite similar, with the biggest differences being trucks and hand brakes. The car displayed here had ASF A-3 Ride Control trucks and Superior hand brakes. The model displays a car with cast steel double truss sideframe trucks and Ajax power hand brakes.

Diagram for the 50000 series built 1940

The cars in this series were equipped with Scullin (50000-50249) and ASF (50250-50499) truck sideframe castings, although they both follow NP casting pattern FS-589, making them virtually identical in HO scale (the prototypes would have had data cast into the sideframe that is legible in HO, but not from more than a few inches away.) Draft gear included Cardwell-Westinghouse NY-11-E (50000-50099,) Miner A-22-XB (50100-50299,) Peerless H-1 (50300-50399,) and Waugh Gould No.43 (50400-50499.)

Diagram for the 50500 series built 1949

Test shots for the models were on display at Springfield. The actual designs were developed in conjunction with noted historian and modeler Rick Leach and the NPRHA, assuring a high degree of accuracy. As can be seen in these photos, the model is a faithful replica of the prototype. While these did see varied service on the NP, like all gons, they did wander and could be seen just about anywhere. They lasted well into the 1970s.

Thank you to Aaron Gjermundson for providing information and photos about the prototypes and to Jim Dick for also adding information and clarifying details.

Chicago & Eastern Illinois Gondola

Zanesville, Ohio, April 7, 1956

This photo has always appealed to me. The low angle of both the lighting and photographic perspective afford a great view of the numerous details, including the distorted plate steel of the sides, as well as the weirdly arranged AB brake components (it is rare to see brake components arranged with the piping facing out towards the side of the car, rendering it vulnerable to damage.) Additionally, the load of large diameter pipe makes for a compelling prototypical lading to replicate, including the banding, wire, and hardwood dimensional lumber containment pieces. Lastly, as a rebuilt car, it represents an interesting modeling subject. It started life as a Caswell-type gondola before rebuilding with tight, solid wood floors, elimination of the GS drop doors, and replacement Dreadnaught ends.

The photo below illustrates what the cars looked like prior to rebuilding. I do not have photos of the cars as built, but it is my assumption that the Wine door locks were not in place when the cars were new circa 1912. This car was reweighed at the Danville shops in June, 1927.

In late 1951, there were 251 of the rebuilt cars in the 95000-95299 series plus an additional 45 cars in the same series, but equipped for auto frame loading. The 90000-90199 series had 200 rebuilds like C&EI 95643 shown above except they still had drop doors and Wine door locks. There were also still 327 cars like the one below in series 92000-94499. The cars that were still of composite construction could be kitbashed using Intermountain bodies with Westerfield Wine door locks and angle stock for the part attached to the drop doors that the locks secure in place. That totals 823 of these interesting gons in service in late 1951.

Pine Village, Indiana, circa 1928, Allen and Son photo

Wordy Wednesday - Santa Fe Composite Gondola Ga-22 ATSF 175218

Col. Chet McCoid photo, San Diego, California, November 6, 1955, Bob's Photo

Like many Western roads, the Santa Fe had a large fleet of GS gondolas with drop doors that could haul loose aggregate materials as well as "standard" gondola loads. The Santa Fe had 11,000 Caswell gons built between 1906 and 1926 as well as 300 taller Caswell gons added in 1927. In 1929 and 1930, the Santa Fe added an additional 875 composite GS gons total in three classes. The GA-20 (nos. 170600-170849) and GA-26 (nos. 169000-169199) were 50' cars from Standard Steel, while the GA-22 class (nos. 175150-175574) was comprised of 40' cars from AC&F. They all used corrugated drop doors with Wine door locks.

ATSF 175218, a GA-22, effectively illustrates the wear and tear that gons absorbed, especially composite ones. Note the damage to the wood as well as the dings in the steel on the sides.

HO scale modelers were fortunate to have resin kits available for these cars from Sunshine Models. I have a model for a 50-footer that I will build and chronicle here in the near future.