I'm afraid that Al is correct, VGN 50000 was indeed an offset side
car. It was built in 1917 as one of four prototypes for the railroad.
Al and I have been comparing notes, and we have as yet been unable to
determine the source of this design, though as Al mentions, it is
similar to some later Enterprise patents.

Any thoughts?

Bob Karig


--- In STMFC@..., SUVCWORR@... wrote:

The VGN 50000 was not an offset side car. It was an outside rib

battleship

gon.

According to Martin Karig in "Coal Cars the First Three Hundred

Years" The

first offset cars were built for the C&O in 1921 (pg 261) #100000 -

100999.

The first patent for the design was issued to John A. Pilcher (#

1,433,096)

on Oct 24, 1922. The next patent was issued to Enterprise

(#1,537,051) May

1925. Wine received a patent for a different offset design in 1929
(#1,698,866). A fourth patent was issued to William F. Kiesel, Jr.

Mechanical Engineer

for the PRR in 1931 (#1,834,952) and was used in the PRR class H27.

(See pg

74 of Karig) See also Karig pg 298-329 for photos. The Wine

design was

licensed to the ARA and was adopted as the 1928 standard practice

design.

Rich Or