New MTL Mill Gon.

[JoeD]

I guess we let the cat out of the bag at the NSE... 

Joe

[bbussey]

I'm happy to see it is an ATSF prototype and not a G26 variant.

Where's the PS-2 cement hopper?????

[wazzou]

Where's the PS-2 cement hopper?????

To the right.   

[Englewood]

Nice!

[Mark5]

I guess we let the cat out of the bag at the NSE... 

I like this cat! 

[oakcreekco]

Nice indeed.

Looking forward to seeing these on my rails!

[bbussey]

To the right.   

Yeah, I know.

In the wide-view pic of the MTL table, there are two PS2 hoppers on display in the center of the table.  Too far to see any detail, but I saw them in Springfield and they looked good.

[Cajonpassfan]

Great to se this. Soo...what ATSF Ga class is this based on? 20's through 50's is a long time...
Otto K.

[ljudice]

Very nice!

[thomasjmdavis]

Great to se this. Soo...what ATSF Ga class is this based on? 20's through 50's is a long time...
Otto K.

Otto,
It appears to be the same photo used in the Hendrickson book "Santa Fe Open Top Cars" on p. 144- and if I'm right about that, it is a Ga-48 of 1940.  The earlier Ga-47 (1937), according to the caption in the book is "the exact same design".  The later Ga-55 were built to "the same design and specification" except they had 70 ton National B1 trucks instead of 70 ton AAR DTSP trucks of the Ga-47,48 (and I will admit, no idea what DTSP stands for- but that's what the book says).  The photos of all 3 classes bear out the "same design"- whatever differences there are, if any,  (other than trucks) are small enough I can't see them.  EDIT: The post war 65' gondolas are similar, but the ribs are different- some are short and do not go all the way to the bottom edge of the side- so they are easy to distinguish. Sorry, I was looking at the wrong photo.  The post war have different ends, and were built by Pressed Steel Corp and some later ones by the ATSF shops.

OK, @MTLJoe , did I get it right? 

Will they come with 70 ton trucks?

Should I wait for the 1950s lettering scheme, or just beg for undecs and do my own?

Who had these in the 1920s?

[learmoia]

How similar is this to the Athearn model?

~Ian

[thomasjmdavis]

How similar is this to the Athearn model?

~Ian

Very similar.  At least, based on similar prototypes. In terms of construction- the Athearn is cast metal, while the MTL ad Joe posted says plastic with metal underframe. The Athearn N scale car has different ends (at least mine do)- more like a conventional improved dreadnought. My opinion is that the Athearn looks more like the ATSF postwar car ends while the MTL is the prewar/WWII version. My N scale Athearns are lettered as Ga-47s. I'll probably just leave them as is rather than reletter them as Ga-76 (I think? 76). In HO, Athearn did a release with ATSF prewar ends and details.  It will be interesting to compare the two cars after the MTL cars are delivered.

[kiwi_al]

ooooohhhh bugger, I'm going to be spending money. Hide Mr Wallet hide!!!

[sd45elect2000]

Otto,
It appears to be the same photo used in the Hendrickson book "Santa Fe Open Top Cars" on p. 144- and if I'm right about that, it is a Ga-48 of 1940.  The earlier Ga-47 (1937), according to the caption in the book is "the exact same design".  The later Ga-55 were built to "the same design and specification" except they had 70 ton National B1 trucks instead of 70 ton AAR DTSP trucks of the Ga-47,48 (and I will admit, no idea what DTSP stands for- but that's what the book says).  The photos of all 3 classes bear out the "same design"- whatever differences there are, if any,  (other than trucks) are small enough I can't see them.  EDIT: The post war 65' gondolas are similar, but the ribs are different- some are short and do not go all the way to the bottom edge of the side- so they are easy to distinguish. Sorry, I was looking at the wrong photo.  The post war have different ends, and were built by Pressed Steel Corp and some later ones by the ATSF shops.

OK, @MTLJoe , did I get it right? 

Will they come with 70 ton trucks?

Should I wait for the 1950s lettering scheme, or just beg for undecs and do my own?

Who had these in the 1920s?

The Milwaukee had a group of them early on for Allis Chalmers service. They were big cars for the 20s-30s ! I'll need to look at my resources and see if they are a close match for the Milwaukee group, I suspect they are close enough for me .

Randy

[up1950s]

I guess MTL will be making loads for these . Would be nice to see MTL putting more detail in their loads than they have in the past . I would gladly pay more for them . When seeing a open load we , I , look mostly at the load and its blocking , ties , etc , and less at the car itself . The load is gem on the ring and is facet-nating to our eye .