St. Elmo 27' boxcar

[Dave Johnson]

After being absent from this forum for a few years, and then coming back and reading the many posts, I am learning a lot.  I decided to rejoin and to contribute what little knowledge I have.  I have attached the sketches I made in 2003 of the 27' boxcar at St. Elmo and a cad drawing I started around the same time.  The faint lines indicate assume construction, based on the length of bolts to the nut and washer.  I have a more complete drawing, but my computer wasn't cooperating and letting me print the drawing.  I'll try it again later, as it has dimensions called out on it.  I used to believe the Union Pacific built DSP&P and KC 27' boxcars were built to different plans, but now I'm not sure, as both series of cars didn't have truss rods.  The Ex. KC cars have a taller side facia board, which also has evenly spaced large bolts and washers.  That difference may be due to the KC cars having a true double roof and not just a double planked roof.  As Ken Martin noted, the KC cars have an inner metal roof, which I noted as being tin, but which may be zinc.  A companion to the metal was a layer of thick planks and then on top was a typical double board roof, which was spaced separate from the inner roof.  The original car siding was a 5 1/4" siding, with a center bead and a bead next to the tongue edge.  The siding was patched in places with regular "V" groove 5 1/4" siding and one end of the car has 3 1/4" siding on the end and for about 2' on both sides.  That probably indicates repaired wreck damage.  The trucks, which were posted as being the ones to use, are not correct for the 27' cars.  The Union Pacific built 27' box cars were swing motion trucks, which used a side frame center casting, like that on DL&G #191, but the journal boxes were a style, which I have not seen modeled.  The boxes had a square, blocky front at the top and the lid slid up vertically.  Having viewed fragments of UP and Ohio Falls swing motion castings, at the Sumpter Valley depot, I believe the UP truck casting were a heavier built knock off, of the Ohio Falls truck castings.  The KC had 30, 24' box cars built by Ohio Falls in 1881, of which 29 remained at the 1885 renumbering.  These cars disappeared from the KC roster, a year or two before the conversion, while the 27' and much older 23' and 24' box cars remained.  I believe these were transferred to the Utah Northern and may be the source of the Ohio Falls casting fragments.  The KC 27' box cars came with interior red, white, and blue painted lines, which indicated the loading limit for different grains.  I doubt the DSP&P cars had such a detail, but they still remain on the car at St. Elmo.  I'll have to resize the cad drawing to post it.
Dave Johnson

[Dave Johnson]

I made a mistake in what I wrote, as I misread my notes and forgot the inner roof construction.  There was not an inner layer of thick roof planks.  The thick inner boards, with the grooves on both edges, were in between the individual inner metal roof panels.  In sketch 3, notice the spacing of these boards, as some are over the rafters and some are spaced in between the rafters.  Also note the metal panels have two ribs running from the side to side of the car.
Dave Johnson

[Dave Johnson]

Here is the framing drawing for the St. Elmo boxcar.  I believe this UP built car and Litchfield built car, at St. Elmo, were the same cars, which appear on the north lead of the burned engine house at the Alpine tunnel.  Both cars at St. Elmo had received regular C&S box car numbers, but were rebuilt into outfit cars.  The cars at the Alpine tunnel were possibly for the crews building the boarding house, new coal bin, new water tank, and new turntable.  Why they would have been brought down to St. Elmo?  My guess is they may have been for use as a replacement depot and section tool shed.
Dave Johnson

[Don Gustavson II]

Dave,
Thanks for posting this info. Some day I may build this out for St. Elmo on my layout.

[Dave Johnson]

Looking at photos on this site, two outfit cars were located on the north engine house lead, at Alpine, buried in the snow, before the engine house burned.  Another photo shows the engine house one year after the fire and the two outfit cars were gone, but there was a string of cars sitting on the siding, buried in the snow.  You can see where a path has been shoveled out of the north end of the stone section house.  The front wall of the engine house has collapsed, but the other walls were intact.  I wonder if the C&S pushed in the front wall, to prevent it from possibly falling onto the mainline.  In the "Slim Gauge News, vol. 4, number 2, it was noted there wasn't a ring rail for the turntable, under the front wall rubble.  This leads to two possibilities, the turntable was salvaged before the fire, or after the fire, the turntable and ring rail was salvaged and then the C&S pushed in the front wall.  Photos around 1900 show the engine house south doors open and that track being apparently in use.  That would allow access to the table, the coal, and the water, while keeping the north wind out.  The siding was reinstalled, so a run around in the engine house wouldn't be needed.
Dave Johnson

[CBryars2]

Do you have a reference to a photo link I would love to see those.  Wanting to model engine house pre burn down.

Thanks Cameron

[Dave Johnson]

The post fire (1907) photo of the Alpine engine house is on page 340 of Volume II of Digerness.  It is also on this site and may be found by doing a search for "Alpine engine house".  I've seen another post fire photo, from the south end and most of the walls were still standing.  I don't remember where I saw that photo.  The photo showing the two outfit cars buried in the snow, on the north engine house lead, is on age 121 of Ferrell's "South Park" book and I've seen it in a number of places, including that issue of the Slim Gauge News.  There is another photo, perhaps taken at the same time, which shows the same scene, but at a different angle.  This photo is undated, but is in the late 1890s.

It is interesting, that shortly after the C&S went to straight stacks, they started having engine houses burn down.
Dave Johnson

[CBryars2]

Thanks Dave I will look those up.

Cameron

[Ron Rudnick]

Kansas Central Ohio Falls cars
The KC was converted in August, 1890.  Four years later, the August, 1894 ORER, the Kansa Central roster listed 21 Ohio Falls cars as still on the roster.  It is doubtful that they were moved to Utah as the U&N was also converted in October, 1890.  
As for Ohio Falls parts on the Utah line, in 1879 the U&N received 300 (100 box / 100 flat cars that were later converted to box cars) freight cars from Ohio Falls.  No doubt this was the source for Ohio Falls car parts in Utah.      

[Robert McFarland]

While doing some reading about the U&N on the Utah Rails website I found mention of a Doddridge Refrigerator car.Do you know anything about them?

[Robert McFarland]

It would appear that your post about converted boxcars might  be related.

[Ron Rudnick]

"Doddridge"
Sorry I know nothing about them or it
Others have mentioned it and I did a search on this site and the NG Discussion" site with no luck