Trainman 42' Gondola prototype?

[nickelplate759]

There may be a thread that covers this, but I can't find it.

The Atlas Trainman 42' (or 40', depending on which description you read) gondola has 8 side panels.
Photos I can find of prototype 42' gondolas have more panels than that (9 or 10).   There are a number of HO models of what appear to be the same car as well.  Can someone tell me what the prototype was?
George

[SP-Wolf]

There may be a thread that covers this, but I can't find it.

The Atlas Trainman 42' (or 40', depending on which description you read) gondola has 8 side panels.
Photos I can find of prototype 42' gondolas have more panels than that (9 or 10).   There are a number of HO models of what appear to be the same car as well.  Can someone tell me what the prototype was?
George

Perhaps, this will shed some "dim" light on the subject. (Looks to be another made up model)

http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=64226

Regards,
Wolf

[Sokramiketes]

Yes, the C&EI is the closest.  There is a good photo in the Morning Sun Color Guide.

[nickelplate759]

Doh!  I'm the one that posted the question on the old Atlas forum!  Small world...

[wcfn100]

MKT also had a 41' 8 panel gondola.


Jason

[Iain]

They make a good starting point for modeling Norfolk Southern low side gons.

[Chris333]

When was the C&EI car built ? Did Atlas do the as built scheme?

[nkalanaga]

My first true N scale car was a Minitrix version of that same gon, in CB&Q red no less, a beautiful car compared with the 000 stuff I had!

I later converted a bunch of them to GS gons, following an HO kitbash in either MR or RMC.  Those, in turn, were retired when the MT car came out.

[JMaurer1]

What has happened in the past (and I think also happened here) is that 'back in the day' a 1to1 scale manufacturer would advertise a drawing of their 'latest/greatest' freight car (or in some cases, diesel engine...1st run Atlas GP-9 as I recall) with the hope that the railroads would buy it. Model companies would see this drawing of a new car and trying to beat the competition come out with a model of the car only to later find out that the actual design was changed/altered/never built. Once a model of a car existed, they often were copied by the other companies (look at how many copies of the SF caboose exist). Apparently this is one of those cars where the model proceeded the prototype and the prototype wasn't ever built as such.

[OldEastRR]

The Atlas gon can also be reworked into close-to NH prototype with correct number of panels:

[nickelplate759]

Nice Job!

I gather you removed all of the original 7 ribs and added 9 new ones (on each side)?

George

[OldEastRR]

I gather you removed all of the original 7 ribs and added 9 new ones (on each side)?

Yes, not very hard to shave off the old ribs with a chisel blade and some fine sanding. Then use Evergreen or Plastruct T-channel of the correct size as new ribs. You need to chop out 2' of the middle of the car and frame to get the correct spacing, tho (each panel is four feet wide). A chisel blade also is used to make the end ladders into rungs.
The really really hard part is lowering the underframe AND still having a weight hidden in the floor. This car as it comes rides extremely high .

[nkalanaga]

WAY off topic, but I wonder if the sides would make usable deck girder bridge parts?  Add a flange along the bottom to match the top and it looks possible, especially as a cheap road or light branchline bridge.

[nkalanaga]

Lowering the car isn't hard, and only takes a few minutes.  I just did one to try it.  The catch is that the underframe isn't lowered, so if seeing the center sill and cross bearers bothers you, you're on your own.

There are two ways to do this, easy and cheap.  I'm cheap.  Start by removing the trucks and couplers.  Mine had 1025s on plastic shims, so old that they had KD couplers and cast zinc screws.  Both screws were rotten, and shattered, so I had to replace the underframe, as the pieces wouldn't come out.  In any case, take the underframe out, if it didn't fall out when you removed the trucks.

Now, if you're cheap, file the bolsters down, basically removing the raised circular portion, making sure the remainder is flat, so the car sits level.  If you want easy, get some BLMA or other low-bolster trucks.

Remove the weight, take your razor saw, and cut out the four floor sections inboard of the body bolsters.  Two cuts each, along the bolster and cross bearer, a few passes with a knife along the center sill, and the piece will snap out.  It doesn't have to be neat, but clean up any fuzz and debris, so the underframe will go back in neatly.  The missing floor won't show.

Reinstall the weight.  It should go back on the original pins, but might not stay.  That doesn't matter, as it can't come out, once the underframe is back in the car.

If you want, drill and tap two holes, and body mount your favorite couplers.  Once I was done, my 1025s were at the right height screwed directly to the floor.  Cut and file the screws flush with the top of the floor.  If you want to keep truck mounted couplers, cut the floor off outboard of the body bolster, and they should work fine.

Paint the underframe, if needed, and reassemble.

[OldEastRR]

nkalanaga:

I'd like to see the pix of your gon mod from the side and an underbody shot. It caused me a lot of work to do mine since the gon floor rides barely above the truck frames on the NH equipment.