Another Walthers Difco Dump Car Question

[wcfn100]

After looking at RRPICTUREARCHIVES I think it should be pointed out the not all air dump cars were built by DIFCO.  For some reason RRPA has a separate category for "DIFCO Side Dump".  Side Dump or Air Dump cars were built by other builders.  The easiest example I have is the NP had Air Dump cars built by Magor in 1959.


Jason

[Kisatchie]

I found out on Wikipedia that Great Northern and other railroads merged to form the Burlington Northern RR in 1970. I also saw Walthers Great Northern Difco cars for sale on the Brooklyn Locomotive Works site. Than would indicate the Walthers Difco cars date back to 1970 or earlier. Unless the Great Northern car is a foobie  .


Hmm... or maybe, Kiz is
a foobie...

[wcfn100]

Here's a picture of an NP DIFCO car that says it was built in 1968. 

http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=38226

I think for 1971 you're just going to have to find photos for roads like the GN to see if they are DIFCO or if they should be some other builder.

Jason

[Kisatchie]

Here's a picture of an NP DIFCO car that says it was built in 1968...
...I think for 1971 you're just going to have to find photos for roads like the GN to see if they are DIFCO or if they should be some other builder.

I'm going to decal any Difco cars I get for my Thomas Mining Company. Now that I see the 1968 car, I'm all set.


Hmm... set in concrete...?

[wcfn100]

The Morning Sun GN Color Guide has a shot of a DIFCO car that was built in '68 as well.


Jason

[cv_acr]

After looking at RRPICTUREARCHIVES I think it should be pointed out the not all air dump cars were built by DIFCO.  For some reason RRPA has a separate category for "DIFCO Side Dump".  Side Dump or Air Dump cars were built by other builders.  The easiest example I have is the NP had Air Dump cars built by Magor in 1959.


Jason

Exactly my earlier point more or less. DIFCO is the name of the builder, not a car type. The Walthers model represents a car made by DIFCO. It's not the only builder/design of this car type.

[nkalanaga]

Jason:  Thank you.  So the GS gon, with doors closed, has a level floor and is a gon, whereas the HK hopper-bottom gons still have the hopper bays, not a level loading surface, so is a hopper.  Makes sense.

Now, we have today's coal gons with their odd floors, but since they don't empty through the floor, we won't let them confuse the issue...

[wcfn100]

Now, we have today's coal gons with their odd floors, but since they don't empty through the floor, we won't let them confuse the issue...

Actually I think they make it much easier to understand because they look so similar.  You have to focus on the part that's different, the floor.  I never really paid attention to any of this until I had to explain to my son that one coal train had gondola cars and another had hoppers even though they look the same.

Modern coal gondolas have level floors just like any other gondola even if they're tubs.  And while the ends may be sloped, it's not for the discharge of the coal through a hopper.

Jason

[NARmike]

Here's a riveted side dump car I photographed this summer...



not sure of the build date or builder but it is pre-60's... probably in the 20's. It is quite a neat mechanism that operates it... giant air cylinders. This one is sitting at the Alberta Railway Museum just north of Edmonton http://www.albertarailwaymuseum.com/... with a half load of old spikes in it.

they have a pile of MOW cars as well... Including 1 of the NAR's Jordan Spreaders (which I hope to build in N)...



NAR #73, a 2-8-0 thats about $10,000 worth of work short of being under steam...



and CN #9000.



definately worth the $5 admission fee!

[spookshow]

I tried to find the difco cars on Mark's (Spookshow's) site under both "gondolas" and "open hoppers," but didn't see them:

http://www.visi.com/~spookshow/freight/freight.html

Not being entirely sure whether these cars were classified as gondolas or hoppers, I simply listed it as a "dump car".

So, what's the concensus? Gondola?

Thanks,
-Mark

[spookshow]

Spookshow's site there says "I'm not sure what, if any, prototype this car represents"

It's actually right in the name of the model. DIFCO is the name of the builder, not the car type.

The prototype for the "DIFCO Dump Car" is a side-dump car built by DIFCO. 

Yes, I get it that it's a DIFCO dump car. I just don't know what specific DIFCO dump car (assuming there were different versions built at different times).

FWIW, looking at the photos of NP 89137 and BN 96614, the sides are pretty different from the Walthers car.

-Mark

[Kisatchie]

Not being entirely sure whether these cars were classified as gondolas or hoppers, I simply listed it as a "dump car".

So, what's the concensus? Gondola?

Gondola is close enough for me.


Hmm... so is a hand
grenade...

[wcfn100]

Not being entirely sure whether these cars were classified as gondolas or hoppers, I simply listed it as a "dump car".

So, what's the concensus? Gondola?

It not a hopper.  That's for sure.

Mechanically it's a Side Dump (MWD) car that would normally be listed under MOW equipment.  Being non-revenue makes it hard because they aren't listed in the ORER.

If you need to classify the car to fit with box cars and such, I would say it's a gondola.  But there's nothing wrong with just calling it a Side Dump.

edit: And FWIW, the earliest I've found so far is the RI who got these in late 1966.  DIFCO doesn't even show up as a builder in my '66 Car Builders.  I don't know exactly what that means, but whatever.

Jason

[Chris333]

Don't know the year, but it was built by Koppel:

[Kiasutha]

From the old Atlas forum-
http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=28844
There are some "add" photos from the 1940's on the second page...