On Nov 21, 2007, at 12:00 PM, Richard Hendrickson wrote:

Fred is essentially correct – however, there are potential problems in
modeling these cars. First of all Homgas was a very small tank car
operator, with only one car in 1945 and only five cars by 1953 and
later. So one car might have turned up in Maine, but more than one?
Probably not. Second, I'm inclined to be suspicious of the car
numbers
Atlas used, as the Homgas numbering system was peculiar, to say the
least; in 1/53 their five cars were numbered 63, 70, 119, 214, and
978.
Finally, one or more of their lower numbered cars were built to
AC&F's
earlier ICC-105 design, with longer, smaller diameter tanks rather
than
the later design modeled by Atlas. I have two photos. HGCX 119,
built
in 10/45, was an earlier design car. HGCX 214, built in 4/48, was a
later design car as modeled by Atlas. If the car numbers were
assigned
sequentially according to delivery date, then HGCX 978 was probably
the
only other later-design Homgas car.

There is additional information that both complements and contradicts
some of what Richard has said. This small company attracted my
attention because of the area of operation and the peculiar lettering
and numbering of its cars.

I have photos of two of the other cars Richard mentions in the 1953
ORER, cars 978 and 70. The final car, HGCX 63, is pictured on page
102 of Ed Kaminski's AC&F book, so photographic evidence exists for
all five HGCX cars. HGCX 70 is definitely an early ICC-105 (Blt 9-44)
and HGCX 978 is the later style. Based on Richard's description of
his photos and what I've stated above it appears the five cars were
as as follows:

Early ICC-105
HGCX 70 (confirmed by my photo)
HGCX 119 (confirmed by Richard's photo)

Late ICC-105
HGCX 63 (confirmed by AC&F book)
HGCX 214 (confirmed by Richard's photo)
HGCX 978 (confirmed by my photo)

Any logic(?) of the car numbering sequence defies my analysis. Add in
the fact that by 1962 (yes, outside the scope of the list, but the
closest ORER I have to the cutoff), the company also operated three
cars under ABX reporting marks, numbered 189, 431 and 5645!

The company apparently served New England and parts of New York from
Palmer, Mass. and later Great Barrington, Mass. In 1962, they listed
their home points as:

Home Points: Athol, Mass.; Canton, N.Y.; Fairlee, Vt.; Georgetown,
Conn.; Grafton, N. Y.; Grasmere, N. H.; Hudson Falls, NY.; Milton,
Pa.; New Bedford, Mass.; Nortb Monson, Mass.; North Windham, Conn.;
Oxford, Me.; Pittsfield, Me.; Plainville, Conn.; Poughkeepsie, N. Y.;
Saranac Lake, N. Y.; Uxbridge, Mass.; Van Deusenville, Mass.; Jan., 1963

Please note that both Oxford and Pittsfield in Maine were listed. One
photo I have shows 978 and 70 coupled together, in Oxford, Maine in
1957, so they might have made it to Maine more numerously than
Richard thought likely.

So, of the original numbers Atlas released (1073-1_3), #70 is bogus,
while 63 and 978 are appropriate for the car body. If they'd modeled
#214 instead of #70, they would have hit 100%.

Dick