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Coal hauling on a transitional western layout
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[quote user="roundhouse"][quote user="orsonroy"] <P>Actually, the movement of eastern coal to the west coast was a little more active than most people think. True, it probably amounted to no more than ten cars a day total, but it still did happen often enough to notice. It's fun watching UP/SP/ATSF fans debate the frequency of N&W hoppers travelling over Raton or Donner!</P> <P>This section is dead on. I've only got one comment though: watch your car types. We modeler tend to carry a LOT of incorrect baggage around with us regarding how "antique" railroading looked. We're so used to seeing long strings of black and brown hoppers crawling their way along the N&W and Pennsy that we tend to think that that's how coal was moved everywhere. NOT TRUE. Shockingly, before about 1955 most coal west of the Mississippi, and actually west of Indiana, moved by GONDOLA. Drop-bottom or "GS" (general service) gons, usually.</P> <P>[/quote]</P> <P>I did a search for drop-bottom gons at Walthers, and there were only 4 in stock - all from different roads! Why is it that this type of gon is so hard to find? Wouldn't the GS gons have to be manually unloaded, namely by "shovel"?</P> <P>[/quote]</P> <P>The GS gon was a drop-bottom gon. But back in those days unloading by shovel wasn't uncommon. Labor was cheap.</P> <P>Model railroad manufacturers have rarely attempted the GS gon in plastic because the car is very complex. Details West makes an excellent kit of an SP prototype, which is both relatively expensive and difficult to build because there are so many little parts. It's a huge problem for those of us who want to model Rio Grande.</P> <P>S. Hadid</P>
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