Good Evening,

I'm starting another "do with what's on hand" weathering project and the subject is an NP 70000-70048 hopper. I've got an Accurail model of a USRA twin hopper that's lettered for this series. It has a ratchet hand brake. The equipment diagram

http://research.nprha.org/NP%20Hopper%20Cars/Forms/DispForm.aspx?ID=46

shows a vertical staff. For a representation of a 1957 car, should I replace the ratchet handbrake with a vertical staff?

I don't have a photo to model from, so I guess I'm really asking about whether vertical staff handbrakes were routinely converted to other types by the late 1950s.

Regards,

Charles Hostetler
Goshen, IN