One of the cherished principles of the STMFC, and Prototype Rails, is to "check your ego at the door". (A search of the group archives suggests that this quote is due to Greg Martin.)

Last year I asked for help with some details of a Southern War Emergency hopper and its Enterprise Type D door locks. Several list members were most generous with photos and data. I posted the results in a folder called "Southern War Emergency Hopper".

One of the photos shared with me (by Bob Karig) showed the older Type C gear, and appeared to indicate that the shaft goes only halfway across the car. This design seemed so un-ergonomic I had trouble believing it, and I didn't have a comparable photo of the Type D; so I modelled the Type D with the shaft going all the way across.

At Prototype Rails earlier this month, Bill Darnaby and Mont Switzer authoritatively (yet tactfully) convinced me that the Type D gear *is* on only one side of the car, namely the right. I've modified my model accordingly, and have up-loaded a photo (pending approval) to the folder named above.

Care to see for yourself? Some right-side photos: RMJ 4/01 p 23; Reid, "Rails through Dixie" pp 88 and 102; Ferrell, "Slow Trains Down South" v 1, p 209. The shaft end bearings (terminology?) are the doo-hickeys partway up the slope sheets on the back side of each hopper.

A left-side photo: MM 12/89 p 35. There's also a left-side photo of SOUTHERN 104840 on the RPI site, and Bob's Photos has one of SOUTHERN 105788. No end bearings.

I'm grateful to Bill and Mont for straightening me out, and I would extend Greg's precept as follows: Check your ego at the door. If you do, you'll learn things.

Al Brown, Melbourne, Fla.