Blaine Patented Side Dump Cars

[Doug Heitkamp]

Hi Folks,

A number of years ago I gave a clinic at a Narrow Gauge convention on C&S freight cars. While putting the material together, I ran into some interesting pictures. Mind you, this was in pre-internet days. The pics were of a tilt body dump car. Further research led me to the name of George Blaine and his patented "dumping cars". It seems Mr. Blaine obtained a patent on these cars on April 14, 1885.

Years later when Ron Rudnick published his DSP&P freight car book, he briefly mentioned these cars in his writings. So here is what I think happened with these cars.

1. The cars first show up in ORER on the Utah & Northern (narrow gauge)
2. When the U&N was standard gauged, the cars were property of the UP, and ended up on the DSP&P
3. At least one car was photographed on a DSP&P train outside of Como
4. Did any end up in MOW, or any other use, on the C&S??? This is the real question.

Here are the pics…..

Period advertising -





In use on the Florence & Cripple Creek (May be another make of car)





Wreck photo outside of Como (From Colorado RR Annual)





Thoughts?

Thanks,

Doug H.

[Doug Heitkamp]

A few years later, good old George refined his design. He actually filed a number of patent improvements. Google "George Blaine Dumping Car Patent" and you can easily find the text and illustrations. Here are a few of the patent drawings -

[Darel Leedy]

Thoughts? Yes..... the wreck photo is a perfect example of why you shouldn't use something it's not intended for just because you can

[Todd A Ferguson]

Thoughts...
I think the original design would have been likely to roll over and derail when dumping especially when on narrow gauge trucks.  It might do better on standard gauge trucks. But the center of gravity still looks pretty high to me. I have read that the D&RG drop bottom gondolas had to be unloaded carefully and from each side or they would roll over or derail. I guess the small construction type dump cars such as those used on the West Side Lumber must have avoided this problem in part by having a very limited capacity. I believe those type of cars were built by Western Wheeled Scraper Co.

It appears that the redesign was a somewhat complicated attempt to deal with the lack of unloading stability of the original design.  Just because an idea gets a patent doesn't make it a successful design in the marketplace.  Most patents, especially early ones, likely were never widely commercially successful.  Look at all the different rapid dump hopper cars that have been designed in the past 75 years.  And many cars have been built or rebuilt with tub bottoms for extra capacity.

Best,
Todd Ferguson

[Ken Martin]

In a magazine called " American Journal of Railway Appliances" from 1877 I found the following article on the Blain Dump cars.

[Keith Hayes]

I understand the chief safety feature of a D&RGW drop bottom gon, is that if you unload it incorrectly, it roles AWAY from you.

Safety First!

[SteveG]

Interesting that the Blaine cars, at least according to the diagrams, appear to have a single queenpost, while the Como wreck photo shows a car with two queenposts and a turnbuckle on the truss rod.

[Doug Heitkamp]

Nice find Ken!

If anybody runs into other pics or info, please post it here. I've looked for info on these cars for years and there just isn't much out there. Even though they are So. Park era cars, I think they are very interesting cars that have been ignored by the modelers and manufacturers.

Doug H.

[Chris Walker]

Steve,

The top set of Patent Drawings presented are for twin half-bodied car, dumping to both sides individually, whereas the Advertising sketch and Como derailment photo show both a trussed rod over Queenposts and a Kingpost truss at the outer edge.  There are two rods on the second Patent Drawings from the American Journal.

These types of car were easily upset during dumping, saw that first hand on NZR in worktrain service dumping ballast over the embankment sides with Diffco all steel sidedumps.  Fortunately that type was of the side drops to form an apron, thus stopping the car from going all the way over.


Doug,

The derailment photo also appears in Mineral Belt Vol-II on pg66, these cars long ago were an oddity to me but down here pre-C&Sn3, there was no-one to ask about them.  

When I was up in Colorado, the last thing I'd remember to ask was those type of questions.


Keith Pashina Photo.

[Darel Leedy]

 Appearently I wasn't interested in anything you all had to say

[Chris Walker]

You were reading a Penthouse, I wasn't surprised.  

[Darel Leedy]

Can you blame me? The only chance I get to look at them is when I'm at Joe's house

[Ron Rudnick]

Doug:
I have delayed posting while I chase down some notes.
I am not sure if the narrow gauge cars were Blaine dump cars.  The were numbered in the 9700's and the ORER just calls them "Dump" cars.  While the U&N SG cars were given the 9800's and in the ORER they are called "Blaine dump" cars.  The UP itself had a 100 of these cars which they also classified as Blaine dump cars.
In late 1896 the UPD&G purchased 16 of these cars from the U&N and numbered them 10557-10573
On the C&S they were re-numbered 4790-4805.  #4796 was later renumbered to Cinder #0108.  If you have a way to contact Darrell Poole he might have more information  
Some where I have a court document that lists most of these cars going to the Sumpter Valley.  Alas, I can not find it.  Also I cannot find a photo copy that Ron Harr forwarded to me many years ago of photo of at least one of these cars in use on the SV.    
Also the Railroad Gazette July 28, 1887 published plans for one of these SG cars, which I thought I could find on the Linda Hall website.  But after looking for days, I have concluded that they have yet to put up RRG's for 1887 and 1888
As for more photos Littleton Historical Museum has three photos of a bad wreck, I believe at Halfway part of one of these cars can be spotted in the center of #1392 and #1394.  I am not sure if these are still the correct numbers as I purchase my copies, close to 40 years ago.
Also, I believe there is another photo of the same wreck with a better angle of one of these cars in the Sam Speers? book, the one written by his daughter.  I do not have a copy
Ron

 

[Ken Martin]

Rod Rudnick wrote:
"Also the Railroad Gazette July 28, 1887 published plans for one of these SG cars,"

I found the 1887 edition on Google books. the article takes three pages.

Ken Martin

[Ron Rudnick]

Ken

That is it.

Ron