USRA 55 Ton Hopper

[pjm20]

Now, if someone was interested in doing some custom PRR decals in CK with multiple road numbers, strip and repaint would be the order of the day and you're in the ball park.

+1

[bbussey]

The TKM No. 78, http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&rlz=1G1ACAW_ENUS536&q=prr+gld, has a review article by Bruce Smith about an HO Gld model. He describes what is correct/wrong with the model. So armed with this info, only you can decide if this model is too foobie for you.

It's not the physical model being called into question, it's the SK paint scheme.  The font used for PENNSYLVANIA for example, is totally incorrect AFAIK.  It's not a stretch that one of the real GLd hoppers may have received the SK scheme.  But the one depicted by Bachmann surely isn't it.  We already can see that the number series and the class (which appears to be H41 in the photo above) are incorrect, and this certainly isn't the correct artwork for class H41.

UPDATE:  The Keystone Modeler article states that the GLd was essentially gone by the time the SK scheme came into use, so it's unlikely that any were painted in SK.  Only 32 cars active by 1953, just 4 by 1958, and gone by 1960.

[Mark5]

Don't know if there are any Virginian fans left on here, but the VGN H6 class is based on this design:

Fuzzy photo but you get the idea: http://www.appalachianrailroadmodeling.com/protophotos/vgn11234.jpg

These became class H26 on the N&W and some did get N&W paint. They lasted on N&W until the mid 1970s.

Mark

UPDATE, while the VGN cars built in the late 20s seem to be based on the USRA design, I've learned that the inside length on the VGN H6 class (road numbers 10000 - 14099) was 32' versus 30'6" on the official USRA design. A foot and a half longer ...

The VGN cars got heavy repairs in the early 1950s.

The cars listed here as VGN USRA 55 didn't seem to last to the 1959 merger with N&W: http://www.trainlife.com/magazines/pages/441/32205/may-1995-page-11

Mark

[pjm20]

UPDATE, while the VGN cars built in the late 20s seem to be based on the USRA design, I've learned that the inside length on the VGN H6 class (road numbers 10000 - 14099) was 32' versus 30'6" on the official USRA design. A foot and a half longer ...

The VGN cars got heavy repairs in the early 1950s.

The cars listed here as VGN USRA 55 didn't seem to last to the 1959 merger with N&W: http://www.trainlife.com/magazines/pages/441/32205/may-1995-page-11

Mark

That would match the MTL Clone.

[Atlas Paul]

Better match for the NS cars than the Atlas models

How is straight sided car a better match to a fishbelly car than a fishbelly car?

[chicken45]

Ugh. I'm in for one.  But seriously, they describe it as "tuscan red" in that pdf? And yeah, what Bryan said about the font. It seriously took me 5 minutes of research. 5 MINUTES!!

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia...
http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/103666/idea-balls

[DKS]

It seriously took me 5 minutes of research. 5 MINUTES!

Bachmann:

What is this "research" of which you speak?

[chicken45]

[Iain]

How is straight sided car a better match to a fishbelly car than a fishbelly car?

DOH!  I was paying attention to the ends.  I must be inhaling too much paint these days.

[Mark5]

That would match the MTL Clone.

I don't think the MTL (56000) is a clone of the USRA twin. For starters, the stirrups are different, the slope sheet angles are different, and the MTL car is missing the characteristic sill gussets that the USRA car and clones were built with.

The MTL car measures out to a 30' 32' inside length, compared to the USRA at 30'6"
The MTL sides are 7' high, while the USRA design is 7'5"

So even though the cars are similar in many overall areas, I think they are fundamentally different.

To put it another way, if MTL's goal was to make a USRA clone, they did a lousy job. 
 
Mark

[pjm20]

What I mean by clone is that it was based off of the 55 toner, not an exact match. Railroads liked what they saw with the 55 toner and then drew up their own plans, so a clone doesn't mean an exact match, it just means the basic design was incorporated into a new design. Many railroads have hopper designs that are 55 toners that are a foot or two longer and six inches higher, to me that is pretty close, hence clone.

[bbussey]

All of this still leaves open the question:  What is the prototype for the MTL 56000-series twin hopper?  Or was it reapportioned to fit the existing underframe and detail parts, given that the 55000-series offest hopper was released first?

[pjm20]

I really do not think there is a prototype. The measurements of the twin bay are your run of the mill 1930s, early 1940s twin bay hopper. Most of these hoppers were 55 tonner clone designs, where the measurements may be a little give or take of the original USRA design. I think MTL was trying to make a generic model of this, where there is mostly likely a prototype of the hopper, but it wasn't the intention. Basically, the dimensions will match a clone design, but it will be by shear accident and not on purpose.

[pjm20]

MTL Car Dimensions:

32.06 feet inside end to inside end

33.46 feet outside end to outside end

Possible Prototypes:

PRR H31

CNJ Design:http://www.alphabetroute.com/cnj/1940FRTDGMS/65250-65499.pdf

Here is a huge list of clones: http://www.trainlife.com/magazines/pages/441/32205/may-1995-page-11

[pjm20]

According to this ORER: http://www.alphabetroute.com/wm/orer/1945ORER.pdf The WM had 33' hoppers shown here: