ER Trenton Bulkheads - useable for 1990's?

[ljudice]

I  know this has been raised before - are the ER 73' bulkhead flats REASONABLY close to anything running in the 1990's - like 1993?

Thanks,

[bbussey]

The EXR announcement article states 2005 as the debut date.  My guess is that a purist could spot the model as being an anomaly in 1993 but others not so much.

http://exactrail.com/collections/trenton-works-67-11-bulkhead-flat-car/platinum-series

[jmlaboda]

Railcar Photos shows some cars have a Apr-May 2005 built date.

[Missaberoad]

Here is a relatively new Trenton works car in 2005 This is the car series Exactrail based theirs on.

http://freight.railfan.ca/cgi-bin/image.pl?i=ttpx806042&o=ttx

Here's one in 2001... nearly identical in construction

http://freight.railfan.ca/cgi-bin/image.pl?i=ttpx804433&o=ttx

Since Trenton works is building freight cars under contract for Greenbrier I decided to look at some Greenbrier predecessor cars

Here's a Gunderson car from 1997 very similar to the 2005 cars still... The Exactrail car would make a reasonable stand in...

http://freight.railfan.ca/cgi-bin/image.pl?i=ttpx804197&o=ttx
http://freight.railfan.ca/cgi-bin/image.pl?i=ttpx804285&o=ttx

1997 seems to be the earliest build date I could find...

[GaryHinshaw]

Here is one that claims to be from 1969:(!)

http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=80669   (login required)

It would pass my threshold test, except maybe for the all-wood deck. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Here is one that claims to be from 1969:(!)

http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=80669   (login required)

It would pass my threshold test, except maybe for the all-wood deck. 

I really don't see the difference between that and the 2005 car. There really hasn't been much evolution in bulkhead designs, have there?

[GaryHinshaw]

I would have guessed that 73' EL flats did not exist in 1969, but I would have been wrong.  Now you too can have one in 12/85.

[Missaberoad]

I really don't see the difference between that and the 2005 car. There really hasn't been much evolution in bulkhead designs, have there?

Not much at all, the cars themselves are a bit of an anachronism since lumber shipping switched to centerbeams in the 1980s.
Differences I can spot are,

- Grab irons vs ladders
- Different bracing on the bulkheads
- Different profile of bulkheads and top extension
- Bulkheads flush with the frame vs inset
- 16 vs 18 pole pockets
- Jacking pads are different style
- Access hole on the bulkheads
- Profile of the frame is slightly different

The car next to the one in the photo Gary shared is a Greenbrier/Gunderson car you can see some of the differences.
They still are close enough to make a decent stand in, and some of the differences would be due to manufacturer rather then era.

[ljudice]

Sounds like we have a stand-in here.... 

Thanks....

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I wish ER would paint them in the Gunderson series. There is very little difference between the two. That would cover my era well. I did but two anyway. I plan on renumbering these to backdate them.

[Missaberoad]

I wish ER would paint them in the Gunderson series. There is very little difference between the two. That would cover my era well. I did but two anyway. I plan on renumbering these to backdate them.

In fact the only difference I can note is the placement of the brake rigging, notably the bleed rod which is usually absent from models.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I'll email ER tonight and ask them. These have been a pretty good seeker for them and I think they would appreciate being able to squeeze another decade from the same tooling.