Used cars - low mileage and in good condition...
#1
A crew was called at Lowbanks to run light down to the TH&B's Port Maitland yard, in order to pick up some cars left behind by an over-tonnage eastbound train that had arrived here earlier.  Here's recently-rebuilt Mogul 37, just finished coaling-up and now backing towards the turntable.  Sister 34, foreground, is about to move forward to grab a caboose for the trip.

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As the 37 backs out through the coaling tower, her caboose awaits on the carshop lead.

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Train assembled, they head west, past the Northshore's Port Maitland tower.  That's the caboose of the over-tonnage train at left, having picked-up a helper at Lowbanks and now leaving town eastbound.

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After being delayed by a minor derailment on the TH&B, the 37 finally rolls back onto Northshore tracks at Port Maitland, with four carloads of locomotive coal.  The cars, relative oddities on both the Grand Valley and in general, are AAR 50 ton composite hoppers.  Such cars will become common once the USA enters WWII, but most versions of this car in-service in the '30s were of all-steel construction.

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The cars shown are part of a ten car order, placed in two lots, and built in 1933 for a Texas shortline.  However, that line had changed hands before the order was delivered and the new owners declared the un-used cars surplus.  Grand Valley's parent company EG&E was fortunate to acquire the cars and assigned them to service on the Grand Valley/Erie Northshore subdivisions.

Before putting the cars into service, local shop forces scribed the interior of the cars' sides, then painted them to resemble unpainted wood, weathering them with a wash of India ink, followed by some airbrushed rust and coal dust.

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Grand Valley reporting marks and numbers replaced those of the original purchaser and new heralds were applied.  As you can see, the cars have been in service for some time, already having had their first re-weigh.

Wayne
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#2
Hi Wayne, great job on those cars and a great story line too. Were the originals P2K or Bowser? I have some but can't remember who made mine.
Charlie
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#3
Thanks, Charlie.  Those cars are P2K - very nicely-done, with metal grabirons.  The only modification which I made was scribing the interior and removing some of the original lettering.  Surprisingly, it wiped off very easily, using a cloth dampened with methyl hydrate.  I changed the BLT. date to better suit my era, and also added the re-weigh and re-pack data.  That and the reporting marks and numbers were done with Champ decals, while the herald is a C-D-S dry transfer from custom lettering.  One of the big drawbacks of these cars is, of course, the excellent detail:  it makes most of my other hoppers look kinda plain.  Wallbang  I've actually started adding slope sheet braces to some cars, either as I build new ones, or retro-fitting them to older cars, like this '50s-era Varney hopper....

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...or this more recent Stewart hopper...

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However, I haven't yet thought seriously about re-doing cast-on grabirons with wire ones - with 50-or-so hoppers and another 12 or 15 covered hoppers in service, (the only cars left still with cast-on grabs) it's too much to consider until I get some of my more major projects out of the way.  Wink

Wayne
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#4
doctorwayne Wrote:...One of the big drawbacks of these cars is, of course, the excellent detail: it makes most of my other hoppers look kinda plain.


Hey Doc---those "plain looking hoppers" would look good on my layout Wink
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