While the majority of the switching on the 4th Sub will involve agriculture - covered hoppers and tank cars - there was also an interesting move related to 52' gondolas during my era that I'm looking forward to replicating. There's a large steel recycler on the UP in Council Bluffs, Alter Metals, that shipped shredded steel east on the IAIS in IAIS-controlled, but TR- and HS-marked, gons. These loads went to steel mills on the IC&E in Davenport, IA and on the NS in Elkhart, IN.
When the empties would come back west, Alter at times wouldn't have capacity for them, so they'd have to be stored off-spot somewhere until they were ready. If the cars had already reached the UP, they were interchanged back to the IAIS and stored at Atlantic for a few days before returning to Alter. More often though, the Alter capacity issues were known before the cars reached the 4th Sub and they were just set out at Atlantic on their way west. They'd sit for a few days, then move on west once Alter was ready for them. Another "customer" for the 4th Sub, but with no additional track necessary.
Since this move was kind of unusual and interesting to me, I wanted to be especially sure that the models involved would hold up well to inspection. However, the cars I currently have to model those TR Trinity gons, along with identical IAIS 30000-series cars, were old LBF/E&C Greenvilles. The new Arrowhead gons, while also Greenvilles, are FAR nicer examples, and make for a much better basis from which to kitbash the Trinitys.
I just ordered 5 of the Arrowhead 2494cf cars - my first purchase of their products. These will be kitbashed based on the similar Trinity 2743s to become IAIS 30000-series and IAIS-controlled Tomahawk Railway (TR) 526000- and 527000-series cars. While the jump in capacity may make it seem like there's a big difference between these cars, that actually comes from just a 6" increase in height. Maybe my eye just isn't discerning enough, but I stared at side-by-side prototype photos of the two for quite a while and couldn't spot the difference (although the yellow stripe along the bottom of the GONX cars make them look shorter than they really are), so I'm not at all concerned that I'll see it on the models.
Prototype Trinity 2743 leased by the IAIS (Andy Brown photo):
Arrowhead Greenville 2494 (Arrowhead Models photo):
The two cars have an identical interior footprint down to the inch, the same number of ribs, and, to my eye, a very similar look. On exterior dimensions, the Greenville cars are 1" wider, 1" longer, and 6" shorter vertically than the Trinitys.
The kitbashes should be pretty straightforward:
- Remove the stiffener plates (separate brass parts) from the ends
- Notch the corners at each stirrup step and add new stirrups with angled sides
- Add rivets along the sill and beside the lower portion of each rib using Archer rivet decals
The same kitbash will apply to the IAIS's 30000-series Trinitys, but unfortunately those weren't assigned to Alter service. In my era, they seemed to be used primarily for hauling finished steel. They'll still appear on the layout in road trains, but just won't be switched or stored at Atlantic.
I'm sure I won't dig into these until the layout is further along, but it's fun looking forward to this upgrade to the IAIS's gondola roster.
