hoppers on stilts.

[wazzou]

Bryan,

I did get to Tekoa and Oakesdale on a different Mom's Weekend.  And, since I had a 33 year career with Idaho Department of Water Resources, I was able to spend a fair amount of time in Lewiston and on the Camas Prairie, starting in the late 1980s.   

I think Eastern Washington, the Palouse and Idaho are pretty fascinating historically with respect to Railroads.

[nkalanaga]

Carter:  No problem with the "thread drift", since all of your pictures have good modeling ideas.

And, yes, there are a lot of rural highways in parts of the west, not just Washington, that still have cable guardrails.  Really off-topic, but psychologists have studied guardrails(!), and found that they don't work by stopping someone from running off the road.  They work by making the edge more obvious.  Most drivers instinctively move away from an object on the side of the road, so guardrails keep them further from the edge.  Posts and cables work just as well as more substantial ones, as long as they're visible, and they're cheap, especially in dry areas, where rot and rust are less of a problem.  More substantial railings are used where physically stopping a vehicle is needed, such as protecting a structure.

[cv_acr]

And, yes, there are a lot of rural highways in parts of the west, not just Washington, that still have cable guardrails.

Long stretches of them in northern Michigan.

[sirenwerks]

And, yes, there are a lot of rural highways in parts of the west, not just Washington, that still have cable guardrails.

In Oregon, at least, there's a surprising amount of road on tight curves and with steep drop offs that DON'T have any guardrail.  We also have a lot of unpaved Federal and state roadways (even when discounting timber roads).

Most drivers instinctively move away from an object on the side of the road, so guardrails keep them further from the edge.

Maybe that's my problem. I grew up with Mario Andretti as a role model so I lean into turns and make straight lines out of curves (when I am not putting anyone else at risk).  Guardrails were always my psychological "well, if I mess up this turn, the guardrail will catch me" fallback, and the old cable style make me less confident of that fallback, so I slow down.  But at 56, I can throw my VW Sportwagen into turns in ways that put those youngins', with their noisy muffler 'drift' cars, to shame, and leave them a few miles back.  I give 'em a nod when they sweat by and I am relaxing with a Slurpy and a Slim Jim.

[nkalanaga]

Chris:  They're probably more common than a lot of people realize, it's just that they don't see them on Interstates.  I haven't been to northern Michigan since 1976.

Today, cable barriers are making a comeback, as median barriers on freeways.  They're designed to actually stop a car, to keep it from going into oncoming traffic, so have a different kind of post, but the idea's the same.  The new ones, at least around here, use fairly loose cables, that basically entangle the vehicle.

[John]

I've seen them in Ohio, North Dakota, South Dakota .. and others ..

[James Costello]

Not the one I was looking for @MTLJoe but here's another ACF car:
https://www.railpictures.net/photo/480783/

I swear I've seen many ex-ATSF PS4427cuft covered hoppers on stilts but just can't find an image at the moment.

[cv_acr]

Chris:  They're probably more common than a lot of people realize, it's just that they don't see them on Interstates.  I haven't been to northern Michigan since 1976.

Today, cable barriers are making a comeback, as median barriers on freeways.  They're designed to actually stop a car, to keep it from going into oncoming traffic, so have a different kind of post, but the idea's the same.  The new ones, at least around here, use fairly loose cables, that basically entangle the vehicle.

Median barriers is actually what I noticed for long stretches driving through northern Michigan.

But short bits of cable guardrails aren't uncommon either. See them around here locally (Ontario Canada) and never gave them much thought.

[JoeD]

as we wander off the path  LOL   Anyway.  Thank you guys very much...way more than I thought I could find out there on the subject.  Lots to mill around with now....   A second request.  In a back issue of Model Railroader, possibly from the 80's, there was an article about a portable grain car loader.  It featured a large pump next to an elevated funnel and a hose to a boxcar with grain doors.  Years ago I did the pump figuring it would make a good load but never got to it.  Now I'm thinking I'd like to use it with this elevated hopper concept...sort of a field loader.  Does this ring a bell.  It came with drawings and a few photos.  I'm thinking it was to loading the grain and not extracting it from the box car.  I've tried all the searches I can but have yet come up with the magic word. 

Thanks again

Joe

[John]

as we wander off the path  LOL   Anyway.  Thank you guys very much...way more than I thought I could find out there on the subject.  Lots to mill around with now....   A second request.  In a back issue of Model Railroader, possibly from the 80's, there was an article about a portable grain car loader.  It featured a large pump next to an elevated funnel and a hose to a boxcar with grain doors.  Years ago I did the pump figuring it would make a good load but never got to it.  Now I'm thinking I'd like to use it with this elevated hopper concept...sort of a field loader.  Does this ring a bell.  It came with drawings and a few photos.  I'm thinking it was to loading the grain and not extracting it from the box car.  I've tried all the searches I can but have yet come up with the magic word. 

Thanks again

Joe

I think those are vaccum loaders ..

https://unitedstatessystems.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/US-Systems-Railcar-Unloading-3D-Model.jpg

[cfritschle]

as we wander off the path  LOL   Anyway.  Thank you guys very much...way more than I thought I could find out there on the subject.  Lots to mill around with now....   A second request.  In a back issue of Model Railroader, possibly from the 80's, there was an article about a portable grain car loader.  It featured a large pump next to an elevated funnel and a hose to a boxcar with grain doors.  Years ago I did the pump figuring it would make a good load but never got to it.  Now I'm thinking I'd like to use it with this elevated hopper concept...sort of a field loader.  Does this ring a bell.  It came with drawings and a few photos.  I'm thinking it was to loading the grain and not extracting it from the box car.  I've tried all the searches I can but have yet come up with the magic word. 

Thanks again

Joe

Joe,

I think it was probably a "blower" rather than a "pump" if it was moving grain. 

While legs and augers are the most common method for moving grain now days, some elevators still have grain handling systems that use a pressure differential (like a vacuum) to elevate the grain so that it can then "slide" down pipes/tubes to the storage bins.   

Edit:  I see that John has already replied with the same thought I had.  I should add that flour (or other powdered substances) require a system that uses a blower/vacuum to move the commodity. 

[mu26aeh]

Well looky at what's posted on MTL site

https://www.micro-trains.com/index.php?route=product/product&search=grain&description=true&product_id=4710

[wazzou]

Cool, but its unlikely a car in that position would have conspicuity stripes. 

[nkalanaga]

Not at a modern industry.  If the car was an accident victim, and not simply retired, it could well have such stripes.

[cfritschle]

Not at a modern industry.  If the car was an accident victim, and not simply retired, it could well have such stripes.

Very true, here is a photo of BNSF 431229 with conspicuity stripes photographed in September 2021.

https://www.railpictures.net/photo/782893/