Category Archives: Rolling Stock

Freight Car Friday #26 – AC 3907

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SAMSUNG DIGIMAX 360

SAMSUNG DIGIMAX 360

These unique 3 car sets have got to be one of the most unusual cars on the Algoma Central.

I’m not sure of the total number and extent of these cars, but I have photos of 3903, 3907 and 3908. (AC 3903 (below) and 3907 (above) shown here.)

These cars were constructed for steel plate service between Algoma Steel’s main mill and the Welded Beam Division mill on Conmee Avenue, just north of the Steelton yard. Because these cars were in dedicated service between these two points, which are both within the Steelton yard limits, these cars don’t appear on any Official Equipment Register listings.

Each “car” is made up of three units, which are themselves all former Algoma Central equipment from other series. The base of the car is a former 3501-3850 series gondola with a heavy steel frame made up of welded I-beams extending well out beyond the length of the central car, and a 40′ idler flatcar permanently coupled at each end. Note the “B” end car appears to be a cut down 2300 series flatcar with part of the end rack remaining and the brake wheel lowered. The “A” unit is likely formerly from the 2200 series of 40′ standard flatcars.

SAMSUNG DIGIMAX 360

These two cars photographed on August 18-19, 2004 at the Welded Beam Mill and Steelton yard respectively.

Backdated CP 65′ Gondola – Grab Irons and Final Details

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Here’s an old project I was able to bring off the shelf on a peaceful Sunday afternoon. I documented the start of this project earlier in a couple of postings here on this blog, (see part one here, and part two here) and it’s been over a year since I’ve gone and done anything with this. Time to finish a few things up and get this project ready for finishing.

The next step that was holding me back on this project was drilling and installing the grab irons for the left corners on each side. Not that this was really a tough job.

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To aide in keeping everything neat and straight, I laid out the locations of the drill holes for the grab irons on a scrap piece of styrene to use as a drilling template/jig. The jig fits into the corner made by the top chord and first vertical rib on the side of the car. Then by drilling through the pre-drilled holes in the template into the car side, everything is lined up nice and neatly.

IMG_1958

I also reinstalled the brake wheel and housing, and used a piece of scale chain to represent the brake chain heading down from the brake wheel mechanism. The brake platform/step was cut down from the original long piece removed from the factory Exactrail model with a pair of supports out of a Tichy brake details set.

At this point the car is ready to be cleaned up and prepped for painting; I’ll probably fire up the airbrush this evening to give is a primer coat.

CP 301389

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Here’s another car I finished lettering this week.

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CP 301389 is another former Proto2000 53′ flatcar kit that I got in a second-hand deal a while back. This one I elected to just paint up and use as a standard flatcar.

The car was primed and painted with TrueLine Trains’s CP Action Red. Lettering is (mostly) from a Highball Graphics CP flatcar set, with some details such as the U-1 wheel inspection dot and alternate shop code/date from Microscale and Black Cat sets.

The car just needs some overall weathering and the deck will be beaten up and painted/weathered to look like the car has seen some service.

Freight Car Friday #25 – AC 2036

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ACR from Blair 012

This old wooden boxcar was in pretty rough shape when found in behind the Steelton shops by Blair Smith on August 1, 1996. The paint and the car’s number are all but completely obliterated, but the number is probably AC 10036 or possibly AC 2036. The 10xxx series number range was used by the ACR for non-revenue and work equipment, although some tool and bunk cars were renumbered with 20xx numbers in the late 1980s. I’m not sure of the reason for the 20xx grouping, but it seemed to include some ancient wood boxcars used as tool and storage cars for the ACR’s auxiliary (wreck crane) train.

This car would have been an original AC 3101-3200 series car acquired new in 1928.

Freight Car Friday #24 – AC 238464

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ACR from Blair 042

AC 238464 at Steelton yard on July 9, 2001. You can see a piece of the original ‘CENTRAL’ lettering to the right of the number, so this particular car is from the 2401-2425 series built new for the ACR in 1975. This was renumbered and rebuilt with side stakes in 1998.

Photo courtesy Blair Smith.