Gondola Loads.... any new ideas ?

[Bob Bufkin]

Here's one of those I wish I had taken a photo moments  Back in the mid 60s the PRR placed a gon in the local small yard in my hometown in PA.  It was  a PRR gon but don't remember which type.  The gon was half loaded with dirt and other junk.  Fast foward 4 years after a tour on the west coast and I visit home and the gon is still there under PC management with a tree at least 7 foot growing in it.  Like I said I wish I had taken a before and after photo.

[lock4244]

I think I've seen a gondola with darn near a lawn in it .

Reminds me of a car I saw back in late 80's rolling through CP's Agincourt Yard in Toronto... had a sapling growing on the coupler.

[nkalanaga]

I've seen pictures of grass, brush, and a few small trees growing on Northwest log cars, and a few in person, but those were in the 70s and earlier.  They never cleaned the dirt and fallen bark from the cars, so stuff grew until it got knocked off by a load.

[lock4244]

And they also move a lot of gons loaded with big plastic bags full of something.

I saw a cut of about 12 or 15 of these on a CN freight on Sunday (305 I think). All of the gons were placarded UN 1077, which is a class 9 environmental hazard. That means nothing to be, but Google seemed to indicate that this is commonly used on pesticides and herbicides, and the fact that beside each placard on the cars was a placard of a dead tree (both appeared on the bags as well), bags of herbicide seems likely.

[Philip H]

I saw a cut of about 12 or 15 of these on a CN freight on Sunday (305 I think). All of the gons were placarded UN 1077, which is a class 9 environmental hazard. That means nothing to be, but Google seemed to indicate that this is commonly used on pesticides and herbicides, and the fact that beside each placard on the cars was a placard of a dead tree (both appeared on the bags as well), bags of herbicide seems likely.

they may also be bags of contaminated soil being removed from a spill clean up or Superfund site (which Canada has a equivalent of) for disposal at a certified landfill (of which there are too few in the US).

[Bendtracker1]

Speaking of stuff growing in Gons, here's one I found.
Looks like a  Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia pet.

[bbussey]

PRR had a gon with holes cut in the floor so the prop blades could stick through . I made a half assed model of it .

The TrainCat G22 gondola has holes (or gates) in the floor and would be a good candidate for this type of load.

It also could be transported in a well car.  From where did you scrounge the propellers?

[up1950s]

The TrainCat G22 gondola has holes (or gates) in the floor and would be a good candidate for this type of load.

It also could be transported in a well car.  From where did you scrounge the propellers?

A decade or two ago Micro Mark had white metal ship parts by the bag full . Not all one scale , not an even amount of anything , and some were curved corner transom sections of the type that the Santa Maria might have , not all useful save to use as weight , but there are canon barrels and propellers . These are 2 of the very largest within the mix . Don't remember how much it cost anymore , but I got my moneys worth .

[lock4244]

they may also be bags of contaminated soil being removed from a spill clean up or Superfund site (which Canada has a equivalent of) for disposal at a certified landfill (of which there are too few in the US).

Soil tends to move in containers on 2 unit spine cars or in tarped gondolas around these parts. It's possible they bags are carrying dirt as I really don't know whats in them, but I'm thinking more along the lines of powdered death. below is a link to a photo of a gon carrying the bags in question, though in this image there are no visible placards on the car.

http://freight.railfan.ca/cgi-bin/image.pl?i=atw400539_2&o=atw

[Big Train]

Pulpwood loads, please.

This is the Micro Trains 499 43 945 40" Pulpwood Square Loads #1 and #2. I painted these.

Strangely, MT doesn't make a 40' gon suitable for these loads, except for the 40' GS Drop Bottom Gon (083 00 000 series). Even then the load sits too high and I can't see a railroad using a drop bottom gon for pulpwood loads risking damage to the equipment. But there is a prototype for everything.

Why didn't MT do this for their 50' gon instead?

[Big Train]

Anyone know why my images were published upside down in my post? When I click on the image, they are correctly rendered.

Just wondering.

[Kisatchie]

Anyone know why my images were published upside down in my post? When I click on the image, they are correctly rendered.

Just wondering.

Hmm... do you live in
Australia...?

[up1950s]

Pulpwood loads, please.

This is the Micro Trains 499 43 945 40" Pulpwood Square Loads #1 and #2. I painted these.

Strangely, MT doesn't make a 40' gon suitable for these loads, except for the 40' GS Drop Bottom Gon (083 00 000 series). Even then the load sits too high and I can't see a railroad using a drop bottom gon for pulpwood loads risking damage to the equipment. But there is a prototype for everything.

Why didn't MT do this for their 50' gon instead?

You must live in Australia mate !

[Wardie]

Soil tends to move in containers on 2 unit spine cars or in tarped gondolas around these parts. It's possible they bags are carrying dirt as I really don't know whats in them, but I'm thinking more along the lines of powdered death. below is a link to a photo of a gon carrying the bags in question, though in this image there are no visible placards on the car.

http://freight.railfan.ca/cgi-bin/image.pl?i=atw400539_2&o=atw

Straight up pesticides and herbicides would be a category 6 Poison placard under most circumstances. If I am remembering correctly the "dead tree" is part of the new global harmonization for SDS(safety data sheets)
Representing an environmental hazard. There are lots of things it could be, but it is likely contaminated soil.

Although I am going to guess it was UN 3077 environmentally hazardous substance, solid, n.o.s as UN 1077 is Propylene a category 2.1

[John]

I shot a pix of an old CR caboose loaded in a gon .. it was up at Holidaysburg ..