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What is the text on the end of this covered hopper? Locos and rolling stock
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Active Member 31 posts Omaha53 Active Member 31 posts
Omaha53

On most ribbbed covered hoppers there is text on the verticle end panels that describes the wheels and axles that the car is equipped with. Usually it is centered justified on the center of the panel. The most common text that I have seen looks something like this:

36 1WW STL WHEELS
MINER RF-444 DRAFT GEAR
SPRING D-5
D-11 AXLE

On the car pictured below (a Trinity built 4750) the text is left justified and on the right side of the panel.

http://i946.photobucket.com/albums/ad307/nebraska53/KYLE27215c_zps244cee0e.jpg

http://i946.photobucket.com/albums/ad307/nebraska53/KYLE27215g_zps551c2b0f.jpg 

The text can not be read from the pictures but it does appear different than the normal text. I found another photo and it appears to say the following:

36 1W WHT ??
ALLOY SPRING ???
6-D5 OUTER
7-D5 INNER
BABBER S-2-?
WITH  ? PE?
?? 901 E ?????

Can anyone clarify the question marks or correct the rest of the text? I suspect that the fifth line should be "BARBER S-2" followed by something else. There is wheel splatter along the right side of the text.

Does anyone know what it actually says?

I like to model the cars that are not commercially available and I like to be as accurate as possible.
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Milt Spanton mspanton Super User 979 posts
Milt Spanton mspanton

Translation, as best as I

Translation, as best as I recall

36 inch one-wear wheels (not allowed to be turned/re-machined on a wheel lathe)

Springs in the trucks are alloy

The springs are all D5 springs, there are 6 on the outer, and 7 on the inner portion of the spring "nest" (I found this odd, but usually there are inner and outer springs - a larger outer spring with a smaller diameter inner spring placed inside, but a D5 outer would have a smaller inner, and the quantity would be the same)

EDIT: My bad.  The D5 inner and outer are a matched set, already diameters are accounted for by specifying "outer" or "inner".  Inner and Outer refers to spring nesting, not placement on the truck.  But I still don't know why the quantity would differ.

Barber (not Babber) S2 trucks

Last two might be about the draft gear.  M901E is a style

Did you get this off the pictures, or were you the photographer (or with the photographer) and happened to write it down?  Because I surely can't make it out on the photos.

- Milt
The Duluth MISSABE and Iron Range Railway in the 50's - 1:87
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ctxmf74 Super User 15,915 posts
ctxmf74

"Did you get this off the

Quote:

"Did you get this off the pictures, or were you the photographer (or with the photographer) and happened to write it down?  Because I surely can't make it out on the photos."

   That's the bad news, but the good news is to make the car as realistic as possible we wouldn't really need to  know, just add the weathering over some kind of data and wait for a freight car data expert to come along and tell us what's hidden under there is wrong :> )  .DaveB

1990.jpg 
Read my blog
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Milt Spanton mspanton Super User 979 posts
Milt Spanton mspanton

Dave, good response.  I

Dave, good response.  I follow that line of reasoning, and no one ever comes forward with the correction, so I am good so far with my imagination guided by what I know of the prototype.

- Milt
The Duluth MISSABE and Iron Range Railway in the 50's - 1:87
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Omaha53 Active Member 31 posts
Omaha53

Thank you for the information

There was a third unclear picture that I found. By matching the vague shapes of the characters I put together the approximate text that I posted  in the first post.
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