The new magazine is the product of Glenn Guerra (of Mullet River Modelworks) and Dan Dawdy. They plan to publish six issues a year. It is FREE to the reading public, they make their money off the advertisers in the issue.
Their first issue is up and worth a look. It reads more like a traditional magazine than an ezine. So readers should be able to navigate inside it without any issues.
Good luck gentleman, I wish you well on this new venture.
In my last post “What is Proto48?” I made the following comment:
My modeling belief has always been that no mater what width the gauge, the model should be detailed as accurately as time, prototype information, modeling skills and money permits.
We can all see the improvement of our modeling skills just by looking at some of our old models. While looking at your earlier models can be a nice trip down memory lane, now that the models are to be placed on the layout together with your newer work, some of the warts on the older models might start to show.
I conducted an experiment one night at the club, I placed eight cars in a train. Five of the cars had full brake detail and separate grabs, one car had no brake detail and molded on grabs, the other two were older USH hoppers with their end exposing that they only had the three brake appliances with no piping between them. They were all nicely painted and weathered. I ran them on the layout for a while, everybody who saw the train run thought all the cars were super-detailed. So what does this mean? Most people don’t look carefully enough? Does it mean we don’t need to model these features? It means you need to model to the level that makes you happy and not worry if it’s up to someone else’s standards.
Realize these are my standards that I’m shooting for, not anybody else’s, just mine. Not a Proto48 standard, just a George Standard. For new models, it will set the bench mark for the level of accuracy and detail required. For the older ones, some upgrades might be in order. Of coarse this is a changing list as new products development can bring new levels of detail or realism.
Here is what I have so far:
Prototype of model included in my January 1952 ORER
Painted as the car would have looked in the Summer of 1952
Weathering applied to car for the Summer of 1952
Models to be detailed for the Summer of 1952
Reweigh Dates to comply with Rule 11 AAR Code of Car Service Rules
Brake Equipment and Rigging
Wheels and trucks to comply with NMRA Proto48 specs
Polished tire treads
Weight standards
Kadee couplers, correct height, without trip pins
Prototype of model included in my January 1952 ORER My modeling is set in the Summer of 1952. I arrived at this date because of a couple of reasons. First the major classes of Steam locomotives I wanted to model, K1, N1 and T-1’s were all still running at this time. Also, this was the last Summer that the Reading G-3’s ran on passenger trains in Pennsylvania. At a point in the early Fall they were all shipped over to the PRSL in South Jersey to finish out their service lives. They were replaced with the new GP-7’s that arrived that Summer. Since I acquired a nice SGL G-3 in my trades of surplus PRR models, I’d like to see it pulling my passenger trains.
Painted as the car would have looked in the Summer of 1952 Rather self explanatory but it has meant the selling of some finished models which were painted in paint schemes from 1954. I know I could have stripped the cars and repainted, but it has been easier to sell off the finished cars and buy new unpainted cars. Besides I hate stripping paint off cars.
Weathering applied to car for 1952 Again, a simple idea but think if a car was built in 1952, it’s going to be very clean. Most often we weather the cars too heavy because that’s how we remember them last in the 70’s ready for scrap. On locomotives, the AS-16’s are less than a year old and the DB equipped AS-16’s started arriving in June 1952, they are less than a moth old.
Models to be detailed for 1952 These types of dated details weather they are paint details or appliance details for the equipment help set the time period. Some examples are, the safety grabs on the noses of the EMD F-units. They were changing throughout the 1950’s. They went from not there at first to some there and painted black, more applied and painted yellow.
Reweigh Dates to comply with Rule 11 AAR Code of Car Service Rules These can be found in the ORER’s. I’ve been modeling these since before my club days. They govern how often a cars light weight had to be weighed. Tony Thompson wrote an article in the April 2011 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman (RMC) which he talks about on his blog. He explains the rules well in the article.
Since my modeling efforts prior to this had been set in 1956, this has required the changing of almost all the reweigh dates on my cars.
Brake Equipment and Rigging With my first models, I was happy just to have something under the car. The major appliances were enough. Then I saw what could be done. Full brake piping with equipment positioned as per the prototype. It really does not take too long to build and really sets off the models.
Wheels and Trucks to comply with NMRA Proto48 specs Good running equipment is the difference between having fun operating on the layout or having to force yourself to work on the layout. Good running equipment requires that all specifications for wheels and track are within the NMRA standards.
Polished Tire Treads I always liked the look when I saw other modelers do this. Once I did this to a few of the trucks, I wanted to do this to all of them. I’m not sure if I will have any issue of the treads rusting in the South Jersey humidity. If they start then maybe they just need to be rolled on the layout more.
Weight Standards I’ve always thought the NMRA weight standards were a little on the heavy side. Since I’m running some very heavy diecast hoppers. I can’t have the cars too underweight and still expect them to operate without trouble.
Kadee Couplers, Correct Height, Without Trip Pins The Kadee 700 series couplers are my standard. Most of my models are equipped with the older version with the spring on the outside. A little paint and the spring disappears. When I work on an existing car, I am changing them out for the new couplers. I’ve tried Protocraft couplers, they are beautiful and work nicely. They just aren’t for me.
Air Hoses Air Hoses are on the standards list since all the prototype cars had them and not all the models that have been made over the years have had them.
I tried the magnetic working air hoses that Ben Brown wrote an article about in the Jan/Feb 20009 issue of O Scale Trains explaining how he made working air hoses. I got the air lines to work but I found it to just be an extra point of frustration. They are nice when they work.
All that being said, these are MY standards. They are not meant to be anybody else’s standards. Nor are anybody else’s standards meant to be mine. We are all supposed to be having fun after all.
Two Intermountain/Protocraft and one Red Caboose/NWSL trucks
Protocraft and RY Models are importing some great Proto48 trucks. I use them under a number of my freight cars. We need a lot more types of trucks to start to get close to the variety of trucks the prototype had.
But I can’t afford to place them under all my cars, maybe if I hit the lottery. I have been using two different manufacturers types of O scale trucks converted to Proto48 under a number of my cars.
Intermountain/Protocraft truck with 33″ wheelsets.
Intermountain/Protocraft Truck What a great truck! When the Intermountain truck is combined with their metal wheelsets, it is one of the best rolling O Scale trucks available. But what about Proto48 you ask?
The protocraft wheelset with the tips of the axels filed. You can hardly see it.Intermountain/Protocraft truck combination with 33″ Rib-back wheelsets.
I have also tried the 33″ double-insulated rib-back wheelset in the IM truck. They fit and roll nicely but have a little side-to-side play. I’m not totally sold on them yet. I am testing them under a model currently.
Caboose/NWSL trucks
Red Caboose/NWSL Truck Many O Scale modelers will complain you, these trucks don’t have the same axle length as the IM trucks. But that is actually better for the Proto48 conversion, the NWSL Proto48 wheelsets drop right in and roll great with their pointed axle on Delrin truck sideframes. Red Caboose has a Bettendorf and a T-section Bettendorf truck available.
NMRA Proto48 Specification I measured the wheelsets and find the Protocraft wheelsets are within NMRA spec. Here are the measurements and the measurements are displayed on the NMRA S-4.1 Proto48 Wheel Standards page.
Check Gauge
Back to Back
Wheel Width
Flange Width
Flange Depth
Specification Range
1.124 1.134
1.100 1.112
0.115 0.120
0.024 0.028
0.022 0.026
NWSL 33″ Freight Wheelsets (no backside wheel detail)
Protocraft 33″ 50-ton ARA “D” rated axle double insulated, one wear tread
1.129
1.106
0.115
0.025
0.024
Plus and Minus… Opinions On the plus-side:
The biggest PLUS I can say about these is they are inexpensive.
The trucks roll great!
The trucks do look very nice even without all the brake detail.
Both have casting marks on the trucks side frames.
I already had these trucks on the shelf.
There is no issue with shorting on metal cars because the trucks are plastic.
On the minus-side:
The NWSL wheelsets are not always 100% within NMRA spec.
The NWSL wheelsets do not have backside detail on the wheels.
Both the IM/PC and the RC/NWSL have very little back of journal detail.
I hate assembling the Red Caboose trucks. I have never been good at inserting them damn springs.
The Protocraft Rib-Back wheelset does have a little side to side play when installed in an IM Truck.
Some Protocraft wheelsets need a small point (not really a point as much as knocking off the blunt end of the axle) filed onto the axle.
A small pile of Intermountain trucks waiting for me to order more Protocraft wheelsets.
Overall: The minuses have not held me back from using these trucks for my Proto48 conversions. The cost savings can be even higher if you find some NWSL wheelsets at very low prices at the train shows, since a lot of Proto48 guys dismiss the NWSL wheelsets.
The Red Caboose/NWSL is my standard truck under my converted Lionel Offsets Twins, which currently numbers about 35 cars. The trucks do not have any brake detail at all and the NWSL wheelsets do not have backside of wheel detail either. But they are an inexpensive way to have a great rolling truck. And I feel that is more important under such a heavy car as the Lionel Offset Twin.
The Intermountain Truck was included in every kit they produced. So most O scale modelers should have a good supply on hand from that alone. I was also able to buy 50 pair of trucks for a special price from a local vendor. When combined with the Protocraft Bulk Wheelset Price, it puts the price per truck under $17 each. Compare that to the $52 dollar price for imported trucks. That kind of savings adds up quickly if your freight car fleet is larger than a dozen cars.
Don’t get me wrong, the current imported Proto48 trucks are great! We need more varieties of them. I try to support our Proto48 truck suppliers with my purchases almost every train show I attend. These two truck options help keep the costs of modeling in Proto48 down some.
Machining the two new bolsters which have been soldered together
I was able to line up a trade of some surplus PRR equipment for a SGL Reading G3 Pacific. These models came out in 2002. They are nice models but rather lightly detailed. The Reading Modeler dose not have a lot of choices in mass produced steam locomotive models like some other roads have.
I had earlier taken apart the tender trucks to check out their design. It used a flat brass stamping as the bolster attached by screws into cast brass truck side frames. I test fit a set of Protocraft 36 inch wheel sets into the side frames to see if the axle ends would fit into the journal tubes on the side frames. They fit nicely into the side frame but not while the stock bolsters were in place. I measured the distance between the side frames without a bolster in place to get the length of the new bolsters that had to be made.
I purchased some K&S stock at my LHS which was just about the correct width and the same thickness of the old bolster.
I started by cutting two pieces of brass from the stock a little longer than the old bolsters. I soldered them together so that they could be machined at the same time. I placed the two pieces now soldered together into my milling vise. First I squared up the sides and ends. Then I machined them to the correct width. I marked the location of the holes based on the old bolster locations. The holes were drilled and tapped for 2-56 screws.
After the conversion, the old bolster and one O scale wheelsets in front of the two trucks.
Here we see the trucks reassembled. As I first stated these are a basic design. If a similar truck is ever produced in Proto48, I would love to an upgrade these trucks. Until then these will do.
Here is the Tender for the G3 after the conversion
The reassembled trucks were placed back under the tender using the original screws. Not that bad looking after they are placed under the tender. All in all not too rough to convert, next comes the locomotive.
Will we miss the bottle of Fluquil and Polyscale on the left? Maybe not I’ve been testing P-B-L Star Brand, Scalecoat II, and Tru-Color. But the Greg Komar Dry Transfers in front, will be missed!.
Back around the end of May there was a panic go through the model railroad boards and blogs. Testors announced it was ceasing production of Floquil, Pollyscale, Model Masters and other hobby related paints. Now this in itself is not great news for the hobby, but it’s just a small part of the changing of the hobby. I read on a number of other blogs that some guys ran out and bought their favorite colors out at their local hobby shops. That’s great! Only if they had been doing that all along Testors would have seen enough sales to keep the products alive.
Some blamed it on the hobby changing from kit building to buying R-T-R models, or that we have less hobby time in our busy lives. The focus of the model rail press now is towards more realistic operations and layouts. While realistic models are now not talked about how to kitbash a certain type of model, there is more talk about what proportions of different R-T-R models should be bought.
The hobby has changed since I built my first kit back in grade school. For me, building models, is still one of my favorite parts of the hobby. Part of building them is painting them. So this news should have really sent me into a panic, but it didn’t. It just means I’ll have to look for other paint alternatives. Truth is, I have a lot of Floquil and Pollyscale on hand. I don’t really like it. I end up using it more for weathering as it goes on so flat.
What really has bothered me is that Greg Komar announced he is only taking orders for his fantastic dry transfers until the end of the June. I really do like his dry transfers, I’ve used them on a number of projects. The hobby is loosing another quality manufacturer! I placed a final order with Greg this weekend. It was tough to look at his catalog and think what projects might I want to do in the future and how many more sets do I need for the rest of my modeling life.
Description:
The PRR’s 2D-F8 50 ton truck began production in the 1920’s. It was placed under many of the road’s signature freight cars like the FM, GLa, and X29. PRR documents have the truck listed on the following classes: FM, GLa, GLb, GLc, GLe, GLf, GLg, GP, GPa, GR, GRa, GS, GSa, GSc, GSd, H22, K7, K8, U6, XL, XLa, XLc, X23, X23a, X23b, X24, X25, X25a, X25b, X25c, X25d, X28a, X29, X29a, X30.
The truck design did evolve over the years, the original design from the 1920’s had a riveted bolster. As casting improved in the 1930’s this was replaced with a cast bolster on new trucks. I have not seen any numbers for how many of each existed, or if the cast bolster was used as a replacement for the riveted bolster. Only that 2D-F8 trucks produced later in the 1930’s used a cast bolster. The trucks lasted in revenue service for more than fifty years.
PRR 2D-F8 50 ton truck photo from the RY Models website
The Proto48/O scale market has been asking for the PRR 2D-F8 trucks for a very long time. Other manufactures have promised to produce the 2D-F8 for a long time and nothing is on the market. I remember seeing early test shots from one manufacturer over 10 years ago. They still have not released a product to the public.
RY Models did produce the truck and the Proto48/O Scale market responded by selling out the first run of the trucks. If you didn’t pre-order you most likely missed this one.
The RY Models truck has is of the original riveted bolster. It scales very close to the PRR diagrams. The trucks have full brake detail.
The trucks were available from RY Models for $48.00 per pair. They are taking reservations for the next run of trucks.
RY Models New PRR 2D-F8 50 ton truck
NMRA Proto48 Specification:
I measured the trucks and find that they are within NMRA spec. Here are the measurements and I’ve added their measurements to the NMRA S-4.1 Proto48 Wheel Standards
Check Gauge
Back to Back
Wheel Width
Flange Width
Flange Depth
Specification Range
1.124
1.134
1.100
1.112
0.115
0.120
0.024
0.028
0.022
0.026
RY Models
50-ton PRR 2D-F8
double insulated axles
1.131
1.110
0.115
0.027
0.025
Plus and Minus… Opinions:
On the plus-side:
The biggest PLUS I can say about the RY Models 2D-F8 trucks is that they are here!
And I am placing them under my freight cars TODAY!
The trucks measured up fine against the NMRA Specification.
To say they roll well is a bit of an understatement. They gave me fits when trying to photograph them.
The trucks do look very nice, they capture the look of the prototype based on the photos and drawings I’ve seen.
On the minus-side:
An issue with most RY Models trucks is that they do not have any casting information on the side frames. I’ve mentioned this before.
The plastic insulators between the axle and the wheel are a little large sticking out the back of the wheels. (I plan to trim mine a little)
Overall: The minuses have not held me back from purchasing these trucks. I look forward to their use under my PRR freight cars for many years to come.
I’m very glad to see more new freight car trucks on the Proto48/O scale market.
As mentioned in the first post about the Chicago Show, Protocraft announced their next brass imported freight car. It is a 40 foot double door boxcar. I believe he mentioned this first offering is ACL prototype. They plan to do a number of different prototypes over the next few months. He did mention that the roller bearing trucks he imported were not going to be run again. So if you want these trucks in O scale or Proto48 buy them now before they are gone.
I also mentioned that American Switch & Signal had new Proto48 casting for a #12 turnout in code 125 rail. It was nice looking, I wish I had the room for them on my layout.
RY Models had their recent offerings of the ATSF BX3 and BX6 on display. They are sold out, but Rich was taking reservations on a short re-run of the cars. In his sales sheet on the table he mentioned the Bethlehem 52′ 70 ton Mill gondola and the PRR X37 family of boxcars. If you look closely at the photo in the first Chicago posts Rich had a pile of freight car photos, the ones I saw were of Mather prototypes.
Bob Lavezzi had a pilot model of a new steam locomotive from Weaver Models on his table. The model displayed was a three rail version of the model.
Weaver Boston & Maine P-4 4-6-2
Weaver Boston & Maine P-4 4-6-2
Weaver Boston & Maine P-4 4-6-2
Weaver Boston & Maine P-4 4-6-2
Weaver Boston & Maine P-4 4-6-2
Weaver Boston & Maine P-4 4-6-2
Weaver Boston & Maine P-4 4-6-2
Rails Unlimited had their new Lehigh Valley Boxcar available at the show. They are available as either a flat kit ($85.00) or a built up body ($115.00). There is also a decal set available ($9.95) for the cars. Ted was also displaying two new resin cars, a Milwaukee Road Single sheathed boxcar and a Wabash single sheathed boxcar.
Rails Unlimited LV “Wrong-way” Boxcar.
The LV Duryea Cushion Underframe.
Rails Unlimited next models
Keystone Models was also at the show and they had their last model produced on display. It’s the PRR H21a with “clam-shell” doors.
Keystone Models last offering the H21a’s with the “clam-shell” hoppers.
Jim Harper of Red Cliff Miniatures had samples of his line of track components including his new switch stands.
Operating Switch Stand available from Red Cliff Miniatures
Non-Operating Switch Stand available from Red Cliff Miniatures
Strange to have an example of a NEW Lionel car at the show getting a lot of attention. Their new Automobile cars are a sight to see in person. I’m glad these cars are not in my modeling period, they looked great.
Freight car fans often speak of signature car for a railroad. They are the car you first think of when that railroad is mentioned. For the PRR it might be an X29 boxcars, for the B&O it would be their Wagon-top boxcars, and for the Milwaukee Road would have to be their ribbed-side boxcars. Weaver Models has just released a new model of the Milwaukee Road ribbed-side boxcars in 2-rail and 3-rail.
Prototype History
For a complete prototype history of all the ribbed-side cars the Milwaukee Road rostered, I highly recomend reading Pat Wider’s article in RP CYC 13. The article talks about the development of the cars over a period in time from 1937-1959.
The cars that match the Weaver model were built between 1939-1940 by the Milwaukee Road. A total of 3188 40′ cars were built featuring welded construction and full length horizontal ribs. The cars were built in four groups.
In Ted Culotta’s “Essential Freight cars: 23” he talks about the Milwaukee road cars. He points out some detail differences in the four series of cars. The 500 cars built in 18000-18499 had steel running boards, Camel Doors (except # 18247 which had a Creco door) and Equipco hand brakes. The next series of 688 cars built in 1939 18500-19187 had wood running boards, both Camel and Creco doors and Equipco and Universal hand brakes. The third series of 1250 cars 19188-20437 were built in 1940, used camel doors, wood running boards, eequipco and Universal hand brakes. The last group of 750 cars 20438-21187 were also built in 1940, camel doors, equipco and Universal hand brakes but they had steel running boards.
Prototype Population 3188 cars built 1939-1940
3112 cars in the January 1952 Official Railway Equipment Register
The Models
I first saw the pilot model of this car at last Fall’s Strasburg Show. I have to admit I was not overly impressed at that time. I ordered one anyway. Both to support one of our manufactures developing a new model and thinking even if it’s a dog there might be something that can be used to build something else.
I got a call from my dealer when they arrived and I went over to pick mine up. My first thought after taking it out of the packaging was hey this looks better than I was thinking. So I dug my reference materials to check it out.
The model represents the earliest versions of the prototype cars built in 1939-1940. I checked the body against the reproductions of the prototype drawing from Pat Wilder’s article. I found it to be very close to those prototype drawings.
Weaver Milwaukee Road Box Car
One of the first things about the cars that jumps out at you is the different roof. We often view our models from a higher view point than in real life, roofs are important. The Wilder article called this a “Murphy Type 1 40′ double panel welded roof.” This one is nicely done a closely matches the drawings.
Weaver Milwaukee Road Box Car – Underbody details
The underbody is where we start to see some of the three rail compromises start to show up. The major parts to the brake equipment are modeled and in the correct locations but they are molded onto the underframe. This will be an easy upgrade.
The roofwalk supports on the ends of the car are modeled as two solid triangles of plastic, they should be separate supports. The ladders are not that bad but the grab irons of the left hand side of the car side are pushed in very close to the car side. This may be a matter of pulling them out to stand out further from the car side. On my model the doors did not have any hardware on them. Again this will be an easy upgrade.
I model in Proto48, I will replace the trucks on my model. The truck side frames have no casting numbers on them and the wheelsets have no backside detail. They appear to have a “China” mark inside the bolster even though these cars are promoted as being made in the USA. For those that want to know about the O Scale trucks I’ve added their measurements to my O Scale Wheel Standards Page. They were out of current NMRA Standards on all measurements except the back-to-back measurement. Another reason I’m glad I model in Proto48, where we have and use a standard.
Paint is very subjective and is usually the subject of many heated discussions. Since this is an off-road car for me, I have to rely on others to research the correct paint and lettering. The most recent article, the Pat Wilder article states, “Milwaukee Road’s 40′ and 50′ steel box and automobile cars were initially painted entirely freight car red, the exact hue is unknown to the author. Circa the 1950’s the railroad used a shade of Mineral Red. A close match for MILW Mineral Red is Scalecoat #2 Oxide Red, as indicated by a Boles color drift card.” The model appears close to that.
Paint schemes are another thing. The Wilder article has a list of the numbers known to have worn the “Route of the Olympian” scheme. The word “known” there is important as it means we have photographic proof. I know other cars may have worn the scheme, but here are the ones we know of. The list has 152 numbers out of the 3188 cars built. And you guessed it, the car number I received is not on the list. Neither were the other two numbers my dealer still had in stock. When the information is known and published, why is it so hard for the manufacturers to get the numbers right? Or is it that they don’t care? So now I have to renumber the model or exchange it with my dealer when the more numerous Hiawatha scheme is released.
Since I posted this page, Peter Zacharias emailed Weaver about using the wrong numbers for the Route of the Olympian. Weaver’s response follows:
One of the four numbers is correct (18861). We were informed of the numbers for G25004 after the first run was printed. This will be corrected.
Have a Great Day!
Weaver Models
O Scale has had versions of these cars available from Custom Brass and a series of different versions cast in resin from Rails Unlimited. This release from Weaver Models is a nice addition. It’s a very nice car for the price and I think can be upgraded into a fine model with a little effort.
Weaver Milwaukee Road Box Car
Weaver Milwaukee Road Box Car
Weaver Milwaukee Road Box Car – A End View with Lumber Door
Weaver Milwaukee Road Box Car – B End
Weaver Milwaukee Road Box Car
References
“Milwaukee Road Ribbed-Side Box and Automobile Cars” by Pat Wider, RP CYC 13
Prototype History
Most modelers are familiar with the USRA 55-ton Twin open hopper. In O scale we have been blessed with the Intermountain USRA Twin as well as a number of brass versions over the years. What is not well known is that the USRA developed some designs for freight cars that were never built during the period of their control of the railroads, but some designs were built from afterwards. One example would be the NYC USRA designed Steel boxcar, another would be the 42′ Flat car that Red Caboose modeled.
RY Models has produced one of those USRA non-built designs, the USRA 70-ton triple.
Standard Steel Car Company builders photo
Between 1922 and 1927, the C&O, New York Central, P&LE, PMcK&Y and Virginian Railroads adopted the USRA design and had cars built by Standard Steel Car Company (SSC), Pressed Steel Car Company(PSC), Richmond Car Works (RCW) and the American Car and Foundry Company (AC&F).
As built, the cars had a shallow center hopper, often referred to as a “clamshell” hopper. The cars went through different changes during their service life. Some of those changes included C&O cars being rebuilt with panel sides to try to increase the cubic capacity of the cars, some were rebuilt into covered hopper cars and all had their center “clamshell” hopper replaced with a regular saw-tooth hopper between 1939-1942.
Photos show different trucks under the cars, C&O were delivered with a 70-ton USRA style Andrews. The NYC and P&LE cars have been photographed with Keystone Trucks and also Verona trucks.
The C&O cars were built with a heap shields on the ends of the cars. There is an article on these cars with an as-built drawing of the cars in the July 2004 issue of Mainline modeler. The C&O rebuilt their cars starting in 1932 with panel sides. When completed the newly-rebuilt cars received a “1” was added in front of the original number to create a new number series. The cars were later rebuilt back to straight sides in later rebuilds.
The C&O rebuilt a total of 125 of the cars into covered hopper cars in 1938-1939. There is an article in Mainline Modeler October 2004 with drawings and very nice photographs of the cars as rebuilt and in service. There is also a pair of nice images of the open hoppers in this article.
The NYC, P&LE and PMcK&Y cars had their center hopper rebuilt over a period from 1939-1942. As they did their cubic capacity increased from 2508 to 2518. While that is not a big increase, it does give us a piece of data that can be tracked in the ORER’s so that we have an idea of the progress of the conversions. The cars were later rebuilt with AB Brakes.
A pair of N1’s shove on a NYC USRA triple approaching Tamaqua Tunnel.
The Virginian cars went through some changes also. From 1924-1937 they were as-built with a clamshell middle hopper, K brakes and a vertical brake wheel and staff. From 1937-1947 they had their center hopper rebuilt, they kept their K brakes but the verticle brake staff was replaced with a power brake housing. From 1947-1959 they were rebuilt into their final configuration with AB Brakes. The Tennessee Central purchased 24 cars that had been retired from the Virginian.
NYC 915709 with Keystone trucks – photo from RY Models Website
Roster of USRA 70 Ton Triple Hoppers Built
Road
Year
Qty
Builder
Class
Road Numbers
Re-Numbered
C&O
1927
900
RCW
H7-8
70000-70899
C&O
1927
250
RCW
H7-9
70900-71149
C&O
1927
250
AC&F
H7-9
71150-71399
HV
1923
1000
AC&F
H7-14
13000-13999
C&O 73000-73999
HV
1924
1000
SSC
H7-14
14000-14999
C&O 74000-74999
HV
1923
1000
SSC
H7-6
15000-15999
C&O 75000-75999
HV
1923
1000
AC&F
H7-6
16000-16999
C&O 76000-76999
NYC
1923
1500
SSC
466-H
425000-426499
908000-909499
NYC
1923
500
PSC
467-H
426500-426999
909500-909999
NYC
1924
5000
SSC
488-H
427000-431999
911000-915999
NYC
1924
1500
PSC
496-H
432000-433499
917000-918499
NYC
1925
500
SSC
499-H
433500-433999
918500-918999
P&LE
1922
1500
SSC
436-H
66000-67499
P&LE
1923
300
PSC
476-H
67500-67799
P&LE
1924
1000
PSC
495-H
56000-56999
P&LE
1925
500
PSC
525-H
57500-57999
PMcK&Y
1922
1500
PSC
435-H
53000-54499
VGN
1924
500
SSC
H-5
7000-7499
The Models
Since the NYC was a major interchange partner with the Reading Company at Newberry Yard in Williamsport, PA, I was excited when RY Models first announced they were going to produce the USRA 70-ton triple hopper. The January 1952 ORER lists a total of 33,936 open hopper cars on the NYC. Of those, 8846 (26%) were the USRA 70-ton triple. P&LE had 6255 cars listed and 3246 were the USRA triples or should we say, 51.9% of the total hopper cars on the roster. That being said, I needed some for the layout.
RY Models showed a pair of painted pilot models at last year’s O Scale National. I thought they looked nice then, I was pleased with the final results of the production run.
The cars came painted and lettered. The paint is nice and the lettering looks good. My models had the correct NYC lot numbers for the car numbers.
When I measured the models and checked them against the published drawings for these cars. They were spot on.
I’m modeling in1952 so, I bought all later cars with AB Brakes. I did have a question because the as-built versions should have two cross members inside the cars towards the ends. My later cars did not, but I could not locate any interior shots of the cars to know if the prototype had them later or not.
I am very pleased with my NYC and P&LE cars. Now they need some weathering.
References
Mainline Modeler, July 2004, October 2004, August 1988 (panel side rebuild drawing)
Information Sheet by Larry Klien on the NYC, P&LE and PMcK&Y cars
Information Sheet by Steve Summers on the Virginian H-5 Online listing of NYC Classes
Description:
With the release of the USRA 70 Ton Triples from RY Models, Rich also introduced a new Proto48/O Scale truck. The Keystone 70-ton pedestal-type side frames truck, which was built by American Steel Foundries (A.S.F.). They appear in photographs of the of The USRA cars throughout most of their lives.
The new truck was produced in Proto48 and O Scale and is available on the new USRA 70 ton cars and as a seperate item. The trucks are available from RY Models for $42.00 per pair. http://www.richyodermodels.com/rym-o-scale-trucks.htm
I received these trucks under my hopper cars and also purchased a couple of pairs to go under a pair of cars I have been kit-bashing from the IM USRA Twins which will rerepresent the spot-repaired cars the NYC rostered later in their service lives.
NYC 915709 – photo from RY Models Website
The photo shows an NYC triple after being rebuilt with a center saw-tooth hopper and you can clearly see the Keystone Truck under the car. The website also shows them under C&O, P&LE, PMcK&Y and Virginian hoppers.
NMRA Proto48 Specification:
I measured the trucks and find that they are within NMRA spec. Here are the measurements and I’ve added their measurements to the NMRA S-4.1 Proto48 Wheel Standards
Check Gauge
Back to Back
Wheel Width
Flange Width
Flange Depth
Specification Range
1.124
1.134
1.100
1.112
0.115
0.120
0.024
0.028
0.022
0.026
RY Models 70 ton Keystone truck
double insulated axles
1.132
1.104
0.115
0.026
0.023
Plus and Minus… Opinions:
On the plus-side: The trucks measured up fine against the NMRA Specification and the track fine under the cars. The trucks do look very nice, they capture the look of the prototype based on the photo I’ve seen.
On the minus-side: They do look slightly compressed (width wise) at the spring area, the photos show a wider three spring front face, as typical with 70 ton trucks of the time. The model has the center spring slightly recessed, almost like the difference between a 70-ton and a 50-ton truck.
Another issue with most RY Models trucks is that they do not have any casting information on the side frames. You know, the cool looking letters on the side frames that in O scale you can actually read. But being able to read them is part of the problem also, what should it say? I know Rich has wanted to model this information in the past and has reached out to a number of freight car experts seeking out this information with varied success. I know first-hand that rather than guess or put the wrong information there he has chosen to not include it.
Overall: The minuses have not held me back from purchasing these trucks. I look forward to their use under my hopper cars for many years to come.
I’m very glad to see a new freight car truck on the Proto48/O scale market.
