Derrell Poole - The 50 Type III (strictly a modeler / historian designation - the C&S referred to steel under framed cars as "SUF") coal cars were built July to September, 1910, under the authority of AFE 604 that had been issued on 9 February of that year. The cost of each car was to be $700.00 for a total of $35K. The series was numbered 4498 to 4547. The first car was built on 12 July. Then on 28 August the shops turned out 4499 to 4525 (27). The last 22 cars, 4526 to 4547, were put in service in September. The disjointing of continuity is probably because the same shops were also building Boxcars and Stock cars at the same time.
This group of models represent all of my planned (currently) SUF coals. Since my layout date is September 1910 these are very new cars and they show it. The paint is fresh and weatherless. The lettering is complete and true to its vintage. The wheels don't even squeak!
But the lettering isn't quite complete. You will notice the location of the data markings and how they more or less center on the 2nd side board of the box. These markings provide the dimensions weight and capacity of the cars. The weight of any given car in a set will vary by a few hundred pounds. And that could change over time. Weight was, of course, of paramount importance since that was a limitation of motive power. Weighing cars was a pretty routine duty of the Mechanics Department. In other words this is a part of the data you can mix up a little bit.
What's missing on my cars is the date and location line. This should be in place at the top edge of the bottom board as indicated by the note in Figure 11. On this car it should read "DENVER 8 10". I had a reason for not including this line but since it wasn't a very good reason I don't see the point in tell what it was.
The 3 models are Overland kits produced by Grandt Line and you cannot get parts for them from Grandt (I've tried). PBL now produces these kits and they will sell extra parts. However certain parts in the OMI versions are especially nice because they were cast in Delrin. In particular is the spur with the coupler lift bars and brake air line. I've talked with Jimmy about these upon occasion but it doesn't seem they will follow Grandt's lead on this and continue (to my knowledge) to shoot them in Styrene. The advantage of the Delrin is that the parts are not nearly as fragile and if PBL ever casts them in Delrin I'd be in line to pick up a smack of them; they are useful on nearly every type of modern C&Sng car.
In Part 1 of this article ("Type II Boxcars") I pointed out how the draft gear data was located in the center of the end of the truss rod cars. In this modified photo of Figure 6 from Part 1 the location of the SUF draft gear data is sort of pointed out; it should be down near the bottom edge of the car. The particular decal needed for this detail is located on the Foothills Model lettering set for the Type II Coals offered by Berlyn. (See figure 14).
The hardware seems to play a part in where the data was located on each Type. In Figure 13 these markings fit between the grab irons above the striker but they would not fit in the SUF location used on these cars. The Strikers on the SUF cars were quite a bit smaller (Figure 15) and there was no truss rod end nut next to corner plate.
The Retainer Valve diagram is circled because this is one of those lettering pieces that is difficult to find - not to mention it isn't even correctly drawn for this railroad. This is a piece from the RGS lettering found in the Berlyn boxcar kits. Missing is the settings descriptor for the diagram that should be located at the "x".
Also you can see the brake staff hardware and compare how different it was from the post ICC regulation staff as seen on modern versions of the cars. I built this staff from .022" wire and .032" brass tubing. I also had to modify the upper and lower brackets. You will notice the left grab iron and coupler lift bar are located between the staff and the siding.
The SUF Coal cars were similarly marked with the draft gear data as on the SUF house cars altho I have not determined they had the Retainer Valve markings. Compare the notes of each lettering between the Type II and III cars. Tho the location is correct on the Type II car I'm not entirely convinced the text is correct.
As I said in Part 1, I NEED lettering sets with these hard to come by parts - particularly that shown in Figure 14. The San Juan Car Co. lettering sets for Block style Coals include this piece but I cannot justify 16 to 18 dollars for each piece I might need. I'm sure the overall SJ set is well worth the price and I don't begrudge that but this is the only part I need. If you don't need these lettering sets WITH these pieces on it I'm sure we can come to some kind of exchange. Please contact me off list.
Derrell Poole
Hamilton MT.
So Brother d; Did the C&S have designated flat cars? Were these just coals with the stakes and side boards removed? Which types were the most common?
ReplyDeleteThanks again for the great information you've provided!