Got yet another one for the GN modelers out there. I am rebuilding what I'm told is a Con-Cor 3 bay covered hopper. I have two of them which I'm using pieces of to get one. Where I'm running into problems is the hatches on the roof. Do they face one way on one side and the other running the other? Example pic: http://www.railgoat.railfan.net/other_cars/gn_cars/gn_number/071950-071999.htm. I am also trying to get the reporting marks right for post-merger. As usual any assistance that can be provided would be most welcomed.
FRRYKidI am also trying to get the reporting marks right for post-merger.
Since Burlington Northern took over ownership of the "GN" reporting marks (and the reporting marks of the other railroads in the BN merger), there really was no special need to change it to "BN". I saw cars in the early 1990's still fully lettered for Great Northern, including "GN" reporting marks.
I wasn't looking to change them to BN. The marks show a new date of 8-70 which for that car isn't correct. (Reference the link in the original post.) I was trying to get it a little closer to what would have been seen at the time. (I do get a little bit rivet counter when it comes to reporting marks.)
FRRYkid,
I am not a GN modeler but, I have a strong interest in freight cars 1940-1990.
To aid us in answering your questions, please provide reporting marks, and if known, the builder of the prototype. The railgoat address comes up 404 url not found. Going on the information the model is by Con-Cor, it is a PS-2 which occupied blocks in GN's 71000 series. Checking the 1961 edition of the "Carbuilders Cyclopedia" which has excerpts from Pullman-Standard's promotional material for the PS covered hoppers along with those of other builders, provided no clear answer to hatch orientation, other than no hatch would open to interfere with the running boards. The Con-Cor car is a product of the old Associated Hobby Manufacturers tooling. AHM was very accurate for their time (1960-1970s) so I looked at an old AHM car as well as PS-2 models from Athearn and Walthers and they were all configured as thus: with the "B" or brake wheel end to the right, the six hatches from the centerline to the right, have their hinges to the left. The four hatches furthest left have their hinges to the right. I have a number of the Con-Cor kits and, the hatches and the roofs are keyed for proper hatch installation.
Your car's 1970 "new" and "blt" dates are most likely bogus, because the PS-2 triples of varying cubic capacity were built from the mid 50s to about 1960. When a car is built, it is weighed, it is stencilled with the month and year it was built or "blt", and the same month and year along with "new" was stencilled adjacent to the "lt wt" near the reporting marks.
Freight cars were and are required to be reweighed at regular intervals or whenever shopping caused a change in weight. Once a car goes for its first reweighing, the "new" is replaced by the shop code performing the reweigh as well as the new year and month. If you are modeling the post BN merger, rest assured most of these cars carried their GN paint 'til they were scrapped.
FRRYKid I am also trying to get the reporting marks right for post-merger.
I am also trying to get the reporting marks right for post-merger.
I agree with what has already been stated. In the wake of the BN merger BN had tones of locomotives to repaint, cars were far from priority. I would doubt it is may cars ever got repainted from BN predecessor paint schemes. If they did, remember that the last locomotives didn‘t even get fully repainted until the later part of the 70s.
Regards, Isaac
I model my railroad and you model yours! I model my way and you model yours!
FRRYKidI wasn't looking to change them to BN. The marks show a new date of 8-70 which for that car isn't correct. (Reference the link in the original post.)
I'm not able to get the link to open, so was just going by the rest of your post.
May be helpful to understand that the car's 'reporting marks' are the owner/railroad's initials and numbers, like "G.N. 12345" or "UTLX 456789". It's considered the car's 'name' if you will.
The things like the new date, reweigh date, height / length / weight etc. aren't part of the reporting marks. They're generally referred to as the car's "data".
Here is the image the OP mention in his original post:
Perhaps it will make it easier for other’s to contribute to the discussion.
A lot of what was mentioned about the roadname, number and such is rehash for me. The hatch notes are part of what am looking for and I did discover the keys on the hatches. As I have been unable to find many pics what would be correct reweight station lettering for the GN? (I'm mostly NP not GN.)
Okay, so while I was posting the OPs picture, I realized I have an Atlas model of a car very similar to that picture. I went and found it, and it is a model of an almost identical car made by Atlas in N scale. I think it’s quite an old model. I am not really capable of posting photos of my own car right now but I found a picture of an identical car on the internet. Here it is:
Is this the same car the OP has?
The OPs picture is clearly quite a while after the merger, the presense of a CSX car in the background puts it at least after 1086ish. The COTS stencil also puts it after the merger, I think... I can’t find info on the internet about when COTS stencil were first used but I think it was in the 70s, I‘m 90% certain it was after the BN merger.
I think the patch out was because the car got so dirty it was hard to read the car number. The cars is really dirty in the picture!
About weight station relented I think (some one please confirm) that stuff would be on the COTS stencil? I really don’t know much about that stuff, as it’s a bit past my era (I think...).
I’m also an NP (and SP&S) guy and not really a GN expert so I’m a bit unsure quite a few things. Still now I know I have the same (or similar) car I am very interested in other’s answers!
The era I'm looking at is from the BN merger to the Frisco merger. The picture that I posted is only used as an example as I couldn't find any other ones for the car. From everything I have seen, the reweigh dates are still on cars with COTS panels. (at least for the era I model.)
For all of the participants in this discussion who have questions about aspects of your chosen prototype that pose mysteries to you--join the historical society for that railroad! FRRYkid needs info on GN reweigh station codes-although given the era he has chosen, they might very well be BN codes, on a predecessors car. The societies have that information.
As a member of five of these groups, the amount of information is astounding. From rosters to track diagrams to operations and history, you get it all. Most also have on-line forums for posing questions to a large group of people with the knowledge you seek because they made it so. Not only modelers but, employees also make up the memberships, and participate in these organizations.
Most groups publish a magazine or newsletter, a calendar, and some offer various books, dvds, etc. Some offer models not available to the general public--I simply suggest, that for the price of an HO freight car, trying a years membership in the group that represents your favorite railroad, if there is one. Most of the popular fallen flags are represented.