Posted by
John Greenly on
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/the-caboose-that-never-was-tp8369p9422.html
Jim,
I'm sure you're right about the leftmost of the three cabooses in the Como photo, that wheelbase is definitely consistent with 6' 3". And I notice also that there is a substantial longitudinal beam below the car body that carries the undercarriage. I think we can see something similar in the Blackhawk 313 image.
The car at Braddocks sure does look like a short wheelbase too. I don't have enough information to really calculate it. I think this car might be a longer bodied one, possibly around 15' based on the proportion of window widths to body length. If I could assume that length and also have the correct car width, or height, I could calculate the perspective angle and then figure the wheelbase.
I don't think Doug H.'s mystery caboose has a short wheelbase. From this nice side-on view, a direct proportion gives that if the wheelbase is 9', the body length is 15' 2" or so, whereas if the wheelbase is 6' 3" the body length is only about 10' 8", certainly not right. Scaling with a body length of about 15' also gives a reasonable, approximately 27" height for the end handrails.
By the way, the proportions of the folio drawing of 304/1003 do not at all match the written dimensions, the car is drawn too short compared with the wheelbase. In fact the proportions of the drawing are correct for a body length of 12"11" with the stated 6' 3" wheelbase. So, yes, this drawing is probably of another car entirely, with the 304 dimensions written on, as is common with these folios.
Yup, knowing too much, but also not enough, is I suppose the bane of early C&S modelers. Jim, I applaud your brave and excellent model of 302/1002. These meandering, but highly instructive and enjoyable, attempts of mine at making configurations that could have been are certainly helping to liberate me from the impossible task of building only and precisely what WAS. And I actually really like the stories of mistakes and uncertainty that my cabooses tell.
Cheers,
John
John Greenly
Lansing, NY