This was an interesting project. These are 3d print kits made by a guy on ebay. extremely well done. A bit pricey for a set of two, but from the detail and quality, the price is reasonable for the effort put into drafting them.
A short history. These cars came into use in the coal fields of PA by the different railroads in that area in around the 1870's. A massive number werte built. between 1910-1920, they started to dissappear from the main lines by the steel hoppers. shortlines and the mines kept them. mostly as the big railroads dumped them, there was a cheap supply of second hand parts and whole cars. WW2 changed that steady decline. anything that could move coal in the coal fields was used. after the war they vanished completely by 1950 as bigger hoppers were in production and coal demand was dropping. (home heating turned to oil and gas) Up to before 1960, one could see gondolas full of parts or whole cars going to scrap. Possibly bethleham steel, not sure exactly where. BSC is a reasonable guess.
The green pic is the 3d print assembled, before cleaning and primer added. The other two are the finished cars using vallejo paints. along with AIM weathering powders.
Most would have these as abandonded on some long unused siding, or scrap heap. In use around a mine, or in a gondola. definitely worth adding if you model near or in coal country of PA. I have them as museum pieces, but the NVSRR does have some links into that area.
Beautiful cars worth parting with the green rectangles for the early green diamond haulers
Shane
A pessimist sees a dark tunnel
An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel
A realist sees a frieght train
An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space
Very nice models!
I think you need these, though:
https://www.walthers.com/link-pin-couplers-metal-1-pair
Ed
Those are sweet looking coal cars Shane. If those were available in N-Scale I'd buy them in a minute. They kind of make the ore cars I got a while ago look sub-par.
TF
Really nice looking models.
Those 4 wheel coal jimmies were used by just about every eastern railroad from the 1840's through the rest of the 1800's and were pretty much gone before 1900, probably by the 1890's on the east coast. They were replaced/suppplanted by wooden truss side hoppers and those were replaced/supplanted by hopper bottom gons. By the late 1890's and early 1900's wood and steel hoppers replaced the hopper bottom gons (which were gone by the 1920's.)
They are great models for those modeling the 1850's thru the 1890's. If you are modeling a short line or narrow gauge line, they lasted longer.
The P&R built 4 wheel wood coal jimmies from the 1840's through 1879 and ended up with a fleet of about 5800 by 1880. Starting in 1889 they were retired in large numbers and by 1895 they were effectively gone. The P&R also had about 3000 iron 4 wheel jimmies, but they were retired about decade earlier.
By comparison they started building 8 wheel wooden coal hoppers with truss sides in the 1850's and by 1882 had about 10,000 of them. They started retiring them in 1890 and by 1899 they were gone. Hopper bottom gons started being purchased in 1887 and by 1891 they had 10,000, by 1901 they had over 21,000.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
They look really good, Shane.
My steam railroad layout is based at the beginning of the 20th Century in the UK. As for being 'pricey'? Sometimes it is worth paying that bit extra for 'the correct looking items'.
David
To the world you are someone. To someone you are the world
I cannot afford the luxury of a negative thought
Track fiddler Those are sweet looking coal cars Shane. If those were available in N-Scale I'd buy them in a minute. They kind of make the ore cars I got a while ago look sub-par. TF
You can look for/google Graham Farish Wagons (N gauge). I've converted some for my HOn30 ore operation. I did not find anything on Shapeways...
Shane: great paint job!
Simon
Neat-looking little cars, Shane.
When I first saw the second photo, though, I thought them to be mine cars, either pushed by hand or moved by cable. It's not at all surprising that most were gone by the early 1900s, though, replaced by larger and ever larger cars.
On an early 1900s layout, or even one later, they could be a nice detail around a carshop or perhaps at the end of a little-used siding.
The prototypes of these little (30') hoppers...
...were built in 1914, and had a capacity of 65 tons. Some of them lasted into the mid-60s.
Wayne
Interesting little project indeed. Surprised how some survived in so long. They look good with that caboose I redid earlier. Now to find a flatcar to mount them on. After i see how well they track.
SHane