I have attached my only shot of one of the 36 foot GS
gondolas which lasted in service until 1959,
if not later! (Just over 100 were still in service in
1955, a decline from the almost 700 cars in 1950.)
The photo is from Barstow, in the 1940's.
Tim O'Connor
On
2/10/2019 11:48 AM, Corey Bonsall wrote:
Maybe it's time I step out of the shadows to explain
some of what I've been doing with these 3D printed
cars...
Let's start with some history, most of which I have
gleaned from Jim Eager's article in the second quarter
2002 issue of The Prospector (Rio Grande Modeling &
Historical Society, Volume 1, Number 2):
Overall, ten series of steel GS gondolas, built between
1908 and 1954, totaling 8,251 cars.
(All lengths are interior)
They started with 2501 of the 36 ft cars
(40000-42500) in 1908-09, followed by 350 of the 40 ft
cars (43000-43349) in 1912-13. The big "offset" cars of
46 ft length (700 total in the 70000-70699 series)
showed up in 1922, with 500 of the shorter offset 42 ft
(45000-45499) cousins in 1926.
I think Mark Hemphill (Thanks, Mark!) has me beat on the
details of the rest of the fleet already in another
thread that just showed up in my email...
Those are the cars I have designed and printed to this
point, since I really wanted a fleet of D&RGW GS
gondolas, but other than the brass W&R cars, and the
somewhat close Red Caboose class of 42ft 46k series
cars, there wasn't anything close. As the time spent
drafting up the cars is one of the larger investments I
have, I started with what I wanted (cast grabs, for
durability, and for large fleet expediency), and am
working through adding a "blank" option for all of the
cars for those who want the option to drill and form
their own grab irons, and spend more time on the brakes.
The cars are all printed on a Form 2 printer, using
their standard black resin
(methyl-acrylic-something-something), but in response to
Bill's question,
it does
NOT carve like styrene. It
can be sanded, or filed, but using a knife-edge makes it
crack. Some of the dimensions I have to compromise, due
to the limitations of the printer, but I think the
overall result has easily passed my normal "Two Foot
Rule" I use in my modeling.
Some of my finished cars should be visible in the album
links below:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2190102484587585&type=1&l=14b0223f99
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1923391824591987&type=1&l=2cd9241278
I have not attempted resin casting, as there are a lot
of overhanging details that I felt would not release
from the molds, and I wasn't quite ready to jump into a
second new avenue for myself. I am doing this as a side
hobby from my normal day job, so the progress can seem
eternally slow.
I am grateful for the support I've received on this
endeavor, and I hope to continue working through the
many related possibilities in under-represented models
as time allows.
Corey Bonsall
Bonsall Scale Carshops
