Non-Revenue Service Cars

Posted by Keith Hayes on Aug 04, 2019; 7:43pm
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Non-Revenue-Service-Cars-tp14179.html

Seems kind of quiet around here lately.

I confess I have not had the modeling bug lately myself. Needing a small distraction, I pulled a Cimarron D&RGW 04013 Kitchen Car out of the modeling cabinet and have started working on it. It is a nicely-done resin kit, and notably shorter than 3000 and 4000- series boxcars. Coincidentally, Bill Meredith mentioned on another channel that he was interested in developing a hybird (wood-styrene-brass-3d print) kit for other outfit cars. I suggested he consider a 2-car or 3-car set of kitchen-bunk-commissary cars to create a water service or bridge and building (B&B) train. Such trains regularly moved around the system keeping the numerous culverts, bridges, water tanks and pumps in working order. (Bill liked the idea of a set, and he may do a set for OM or OY--drop him a note to express your interest).

No offense to those of you who enjoy rotary plows, wedge plows, ditchers, spreaders, pile drivers and derricks. These are without a doubt fascinating pieces of equipment and make excellent contest pieces. On the layout, they tend to collect dust. Flangers are the exception: these were regularly cut into trains after a fresh snow. Outfit cars are another matter. A two car set can spend 3-4 ops sessions being set out at successive sidings and creating headaches for crews as they move around them. I recently operated on an RGS layout where a cinder car was set at one end of a siding and we had to integrate the car into our switching moves and leave it in the same place when we left town.

I don't know much about C&S non-revenue cars, and have seen few photos of them. Darrell Poole lists them in Pictorial VIII. Cars seemed to be numbered in the 022 to 098 series and 0100 to 0209 with some other car numbers thrown in. The disposition of the cars varies considerably and it appears a bunch were gone by the end of WWI. Possible cars that lasted to the 30s include:

-025 which we know as combine 20
-052, an outfit box
-052, a supply car converted from a flat (does this mean a "wheel and tie car," or a house car built on a former flat?)
-068, ex 7376 (evidently a pre-phase I boxcar?)
-078, ex DL&G 24302 used as an idler boom car for the derrick
-080, ex 7548 (evidently a pre-phase I boxcar?)
-084, ex UPD&G  24579 which was a boxcar converted to a truck car
-088. ex UPD&G 3041, a block and tool car again probably assigned to the derrick
-089, ex business care 912 assigned to the water service foreman
-0100-0108 are cinder dump cars made from UPD&G coals. These seem to have been useful cars as they lasted to the end with 0104 left in Leadville.
-0110-0119 are boarding cars, with 0116 and 0119 gone before 1920 and the rest lasting to 1934 at least.
-0200-0209 are side dump hoppers, again useful cars with four assigned to Leadville (0201, 0202, 0204, 0205) and four lasting to the end of service in Denver (0200, 0206, 0207, 0208). These appear to have been modified from Phase II coals.

If you model the Como stack era, a lot more outfit cars were prowling the rails. I leave it to you to study Darrell's roster for the numbers and car types.

For my layout, the cars that make sense to model are the cinder dump cars (0100-0108 made from older coals; Dr. Stears published plans in a recent Gazette. The key to modeling these cars are the stakes and cool straps/latches) and side dump hoppers (0200-0209, easily modified from Phase II coals). For a water service train, I will need 089 (which I have long wanted to model: ugh that passenger car clerestory!) and maybe 1-3 box outfits like 068, 080 (older UPD&G/DL&G boxcars that will stand out) or 0110-0119 (especially 0118 which again was probably an older UPD&G car). I am wrapping up the Phase I coal project so 6-7 non-revenue cars will make a nice project: heck I have more Phase II car sides than I know what to do with, so I might start by modifying one of these into a side dump hopper as a test.

There you go: an internet challenge for the hot days of summer in the northern hemisphere (I am sure Chris will be quick to it too as he sits next to his warm stove downunder). Who can rustle up some photos of these cars? Who makes appropriate lettering in Sn3 (or other scales)? What are the dimensions of the UPD&G house cars? Any kits I might start with?