Originally posted by dblstack [ Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub Reply kschmidt Member sinceApril 2001 From: US 590 posts Posted by kschmidt on Saturday, April 30, 2005 8:44 AM Greetings, That is Avalon Rail Car. They refurbish old passenger cars. Also sitting very near the Avalon Building is the old Allis Chalmers Ring Gear Car. I believe that Lionel put out that car in production. I recently toured Avalon Rail with the NMRA Industrial SIG Convention. I will post some pictures of Avalon Rail and the AC Car shortly. Keith Keith Schmidt KC9LHK You don’t bring nothin with you here and you can’t nothin back, I ain’t never seen a hearse with a luggage rack. George Strait Check out Flickr Train Photo Page Reply CShaveRR Member sinceJune 2001 From: Lombard (west of Chicago), Illinois 13,681 posts Posted by CShaveRR on Saturday, April 30, 2005 9:14 AM I remember seeing that car (or one similar to it) under load. I'm sure that one of the museums in eastern Wisconsin or northern Illinois would be glad to take the car off their hands if they were willing to part with it. Carl Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!) CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM) Reply kschmidt Member sinceApril 2001 From: US 590 posts Posted by kschmidt on Saturday, April 30, 2005 9:27 AM I finished getting the photos together. Here the Allis-Chalmers Gear Car, I think, correct me if I'm wrong. Of course the legs are not part of the car, just modelers getting photos. A close up of reporting marks for AC #400. Inside Avalon Rail Car in West Allis, WI they work private cars, they do much of their own work including furniture work and trucks. More work at Avalon Rail Car This was also parked near Avalon Rail Keith Keith Schmidt KC9LHK You don’t bring nothin with you here and you can’t nothin back, I ain’t never seen a hearse with a luggage rack. George Strait Check out Flickr Train Photo Page Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 30, 2005 12:27 PM Hey Keith, Thanks very much. I think I remember hearing that the manager of Avalon was the son of Bill Gardner from Wisconsin Southern Ry .... and formerly of Northern Railcar in Cudahy. Or so I seem to recall. Is Avalon near 35th and Capitol Dr in Milwaukee? Thanks again - great photos. - - - Stack. Reply Edit tatans Member sinceMay 2004 4,115 posts Posted by tatans on Saturday, April 30, 2005 5:05 PM Isn't that AC gear car the opposite of a depressed centre car? if so, just what adjective would you refer to so you could describe this type of car, a lot of strange words come into play. Reply kschmidt Member sinceApril 2001 From: US 590 posts Posted by kschmidt on Saturday, April 30, 2005 6:38 PM Actually I believe that Avalon Rail was formed when several employees left Northern Railcar (the company run by Bill Gardner's son and now defunct). Northern Rail Car was originally at the old Milwaukee Crane Bldg in Cudahy, and then moved to 37th and Villard area. I believe you are right in that it is the opposite of the "depressed" center flat car, maybe a "happy" center flat, or maybe "joyful" center flat car. Just a few thoughts. Keith Keith Schmidt KC9LHK You don’t bring nothin with you here and you can’t nothin back, I ain’t never seen a hearse with a luggage rack. George Strait Check out Flickr Train Photo Page Reply Anonymous Member sinceApril 2003 305,205 posts Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, April 30, 2005 6:52 PM Nice shows. Ok what is that car used for? Reply Edit kschmidt Member sinceApril 2001 From: US 590 posts Posted by kschmidt on Saturday, April 30, 2005 7:29 PM I believe it was used to move the large ring gears made by Allis-Chalmers in the day. I believe the car was only used in plant, I don't believe it was an interchange car. However I don't have any photos of it in use. But I do believe that Lionel made an Allis-Chalmers Gear car. Keith Keith Schmidt KC9LHK You don’t bring nothin with you here and you can’t nothin back, I ain’t never seen a hearse with a luggage rack. George Strait Check out Flickr Train Photo Page Reply ericsp Member sinceMay 2015 5,133 posts Posted by ericsp on Saturday, April 30, 2005 7:41 PM It looks to me that AC 400 is actually ACN 400 or ACM 400 when I enlarge the picture of the close up of the reporting marks. After looking at the National Railway Historical Society's reporting mark page, I would guess it is actually ACMX 400. http://www.nrhs.com/reporting_marks/aar_reporting_marks.htm "No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld) Reply dknelson Member sinceMarch 2002 From: Milwaukee WI (Fox Point) 11,426 posts Posted by dknelson on Thursday, May 5, 2005 8:28 AM More on the Allis Chalmers ring gear car that Keith Schmidt got to see and photograph during a recent NMRA special interest group Industrial SIG convention here in Milwaukee. Keith mentions that Lionel had the car in production painted Allis Chalmers. According to one of my train collecting sources, it was catalog number 6519 and was cataloged from 1958 to 1960 with an Allis Chalmers "heat exchanger" as the load. The book says the car was constructed to move heat exchangers to nuclear plants -- it does not say whether those are nuclear power plants or weapons plants. So evidently the prototype car did see interchange use, at least as a special move perhaps under special rules. I would suppose once it was converted to plant service only is when it was used to transport huge gears. I guess you could call it a well car for lack of a better term. By the way, Lionel then used the same body for its missile car and Mercury capsule car. Dave Nelson Reply CShaveRR Member sinceJune 2001 From: Lombard (west of Chicago), Illinois 13,681 posts Posted by CShaveRR on Thursday, May 5, 2005 10:08 AM It's ACMX 400, and is considered to be a well-hole flat car (AAR Mechanical Designation FW). Carl Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!) CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM) Reply Join our Community! Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account. Login » Register » Search the Community Newsletter Sign-Up By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Trains magazine.Please view our privacy policy More great sites from Kalmbach Media Terms Of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright Policy
Living nearby to MP 186 of the UPRR Austin TX Sub
Keith Schmidt KC9LHK You don’t bring nothin with you here and you can’t nothin back, I ain’t never seen a hearse with a luggage rack. George Strait Check out Flickr Train Photo Page
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.