I think a few things need to be clarified:
Weight of freight cars was very important for cars that carried bulk commodities like stone, sand, coal, etc., because the difference btw the car weight (tare weight) and the total weight was what the customer was billed. As mentioned previously, the weight of the car could change over time based on various reasons and therefore the car would have to be reweighed perodically to insure that the weight stenciled on the car was accurate. And, for the same reason, the scales would have to be tested and recalibrated too.
Inaccurate car weights or scales could not only result in inaccurate billings but criminal activity. I know of one case during the Penn Central era in which a scale operator was getting kickbacks from a shipper for underbilling! I believe his offense was prosecuted on the state and federal level. Your gas station pumps' measurements are also regulated as some gas station opearators have been caught fudging the pumps to get more $$$!
Though scale houses were often operated by someone like a station agent or scale house operator, in some cases, at least on the roads that I'm familiar with, a conductor could operate the scale house when an operator was not available.
And sometimes, cars with loads had to be reweiged in transit as something had changed in the load, like too many railroaders snitching coal off a coal hopper for their coal stoves! No Joke. The customer would be unhappy with getting less then he was billed for. I have some references to this and some of these items mentioned above in my book, "Railroading on the Wabash Fourth District".
If you add a scale house to your layout, be sure to add the special track to protect the scale when not in operation. Several articles have been published in Model Railroader over the years on scale house operation and construction.
It is my understanding that the scale test cars carried removable weights inside for calibration, but I stand to be corrected.
Victor A. Baird
www.erstwhilepublications.com
Lots of interesting information everyone!
Now I understand the reason for the adjustment door.
Thank you.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
On at least one large eastern road, the local freight conductor had to weigh the few cars that had not already been weighed in route. IIRC there was a weigh ticket stapled to the waybill if the car had to be weighed before placement and the conductor had to write the weight on the ticket and return the ticket and the waybill to to yard office.
Don't have an Employee TT handy, but IIRC you weren't allowed to handle more than two test cars at a time.
When testing the scale, the practice was to weigh the scale test car at three different positions, the middle of the scale and at each end of the scale.
It has been a long time since I weighed a car, but if I remember correctly, the scales were marked in 20 pound increments.
You had to be a sworn Weighmaster to weigh cars. The man that swore me in was also ready to swear me to vote the straight Democrat ticket!
Eugene Crowner
Some scale test cars had brakes, I know the larger ones made from gondolas did and some of the RDG's 4 wheel cars did. The model scale test car in the pictures appears to have brakes because its behind the caboose, If it didn't have brakes it would normally be just ahead of the caboose (at least under US law). Scale test cars are restricted in speed somewhere in the 25-30 mph range. They only move when scales are being tested and only move to yards or industries where there is a track scale.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
On many roads the 4-wheel test cars were required to be hauled on the rear of the train, right ahead of the caboose. Employee Timetables would usually have instructions for handling the cars (placement, speed restrictions, etc.) IIRC 20 to 30mph was a common maximum speed. If they got going too fast they would really start to jump around. Some roads liked to move them in local freights when possible.
Brakes were a major factor in the weight differing, so that's why no train brakes. The hand brake wears slowly. But things like dirt and grease, even paint, could change things, too. The test weighting is done accurately enough even small changes are noticed. That's when the little porthole door gets used to adjust the weight to spec for the periodic checks. The other time when they are weighed is after any shop work.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
steemtrayn Chicken/egg question: What gets tested first - The scale, or the scale test car?
Chicken/egg question: What gets tested first - The scale, or the scale test car?
Scale Test Car is tested first. The federal government has a handful of their own scale test cars used for calibrating scales around the country, then they serve to check the weight of RR-owned test cars.
http://www.gipsa.usda.gov/fgis/insp_weigh/weigh.html
It's cut-off in the pic, but what's happening is they keep the calibration weight inside in a controlled environment, dry at least. At the scale, the end doors are opening and a crane arm is extended (the orange beams in the pic). Then an overhead cranes lifts the test weight out and onto the scale.
Dave,
Usually the test car was carried at the end of the train. I am not sure if it was due to the lack of air brakes or not, but if you squint, or if you are young and still have good eyes it will probably be on the car side in fine print. Now that I looked at the picture I see the lettering is not that small. I have one just like it and it sits on a short stub trrack that goes to my turntable.
Paul
Dayton and Mad River RR
Just be glad you don't have to press "2" for English.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_ALEdDUB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hqFS1GZL4s
http://s73.photobucket.com/user/steemtrayn/media/MovingcoalontheDCM.mp4.html?sort=3&o=27
The car would lose weight as the wheels wore down, or were trued. I'd say the same about the brakes, but the car had none (except for a hand brake).
Hi Wayne:
Thanks for adding some details to the picture. I agree that the reason for the round door on the side of my example is a bit confusing. Dan explained that it was used for adjusting the weight of the test car, but I don't understand why, once the test car weight has been set, that the weight would vary.
Can anybody explain that? Dan perhaps?
Thanks
Scale test cars are used to calibrate the road's scales, but the purpose of the round door eludes me - mine don't have 'em. (Click on the photos to enlarge them, then click on the enlargement for a bigger view.)
There's some info HERE
Freight cars are weighed when they're new, and the notation next to the LT. WT. refers to the weight - this date is usually the same as the car's BLT. date ("Built", not Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato ), as on this reefer built in October of 1939:
Depending on the era, cars were required to be re-weighed at specific intervals (every 30 months on my '30s-era layout) or when the car had undergone repairs or modifications. This car, built in April of 1926, was last re-weighed in October of 1938, at Keyser, W. Va.:
Note that the last three digits of the LT. WT. have been changed, and for this 50 ton car, that requires that the LD. LMT. also be changed, as the total of these two figures must, in most cases, total an arbitrary figure. For a 50 ton car, that figure is 169,000.
There's a little more to it than this, but the car's empty weight was important in determining the shipping rate, especially for commodities shipped in bulk, where a car's weight capacity could be reached before it's cubic capacity was filled. I'm sure others can give a fuller explanation.
Wayne
Hi Dan!
Thanks for the explanation!
I'm bidding on one now on eBay just because I thought it looked neat, but now I know its purpose. (Good thing I'm not a buyer for a major railroad company eh!)
I'll have to consider putting a car weigh scale somewhere on my layout. Otherwise, it will look neat parked on one of the short spurs off of my turntable.
Thanks again,
Dan
Hi everyone:
Can anyone tell me exactly how a car like this was used, and can you tell me what the function of the round 'door' on the side of the car was?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HO-1-87-Built-and-Detailed-CR-80051-SCALE-TEST-CAR-with-Figures-Knuckle-Coupler-/171376933909?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item27e6dc7c15