There were no H21's reported by UP Conductor Fraley in either his Fall 1947 or Spring 1949 Wheel Reports. Aberration? What was so special about coal mined on the Pennsy which would appeal to coal users west of the Rockies in view of the high transportation costs?
Not necessarily anything... given the huge size of the fleet and the fact that cars DID go off-line, there is certainly the chance that an H21 would stray in much the same manner as say an N&W hopper... and end up loaded with company coal headed over Sherman Hill.
I doubt that a N&W Hopper would "stray" westbound over Sherman Hill. Rather it was "tethered to" mines on the N&W because of Car Service Rule C-411 requiring empty hoppers of the N&W, VGN, C&O and L&N to be returned home directly.
An H21 would be a better candidate "to stray" because of numbers and lack of a rule than an N&W hopper - a "stray" being defined here as a hopper loaded on a foreign road destined to be terminated on the same or different foreign road which indicated that whatever "tether" there was to home road mines had been broken. It is just that neither of the two UP Wheel Reports reported any H21 "strays." Neither did two UP Conductor 1941 and 1942 Wheel Reports between Green River WY and Montpelier ID include any H21's.
Since we have been down this road before, I would also remind you that individual mines did produce grades of coal that could be highly sought after for industrial processes and there is the _potential_ that coal on the Pennsy might indeed be desired by a customer on the UP.
That might be the case as a PRR Gla Class Twin Hopper #250921 was reported in carrying "ingots" westbound from Laramie to Rawlins on November 25, 1947 - the only PRR hopper Fraley reported in his Fall 1947 and Spring 1949 Reports. He may have entered the incorrect car number though - #350921 was a Gs gon; #750921 a G22a gon. There were a lot of Pennsy gons reported in both Wheel Reports.
