I’ve posted Eric Neubauer’s comments from the Early Rail list after my signature. He added quite a bit of history.

Eric Hansmann

Murfreesboro, TN

A couple of comments: This isn’t a particularly large car for having 50-ton trucks, so it wasn’t designed specifically for coal. The dimensions suggest it could be used as an alternative for the HS, HP, and HK classes serving  collieries that couldn’t handle higher cars. The P&R did handle a large amount of iron ore and mill products which could take better advantage of the 50-ton trucks. Maybe the intent was to create a multi-purpose car which could be loaded to and from the iron furnaces and steel mills. Actually, an article in the 1/18/01 Railroad Gazette confirms this. It would also provide a reasonable explanation for any cars moving far from home.

Rebuilding the entire fleet into P&R 26001-27499 GAd class took place from 8-09 through 8-17, so they didn’t last long as built. Coincidently, Pressed Steel Car offered a fairly popular side-sill less version of their fish-belly hopper car design, and the P&R had a thousand of them. They were rebodied in the mid-teens. At that time they would have been 15 years old and due for rebuilding.

The P&R design was Cambria Steel’s first major venture into car building and P&R was the primary purchaser. CRRofNJ 38500-35999 (later 88000-88499) might have been a somewhat similar 40-ton version, but I can’t recall ever seeing a photo to confirm. The details of CB&Q 81000-81999 Caswell dump cars built by Cambria in 1903 are also similar to P&R GAc. Cornwall & Lebanon 1100-1199 built 1905 and 1907 had identical overall dimensions and likely used for iron ore. These were absorbed into the PRR fleet.

Cambria Steel was eventually acquired by Bethlehem Steel, and car building at Johnstown, PA ended in about 2008. By that time, the parent company had become Johnstown America, then Freight Car America.

I don’t quite understand the corrugated appearance inside the sides of the model. As far as I know, this class had no lining. Nice model anyway. I scratch built one of these out of Plastruct once. It didn’t have rivets. A solid lead center sill seemed to be the only way to hide the weight.

Eric Neubauer

BFE, Central Texas

I grew up with this “locomotive” being a part of the everyday scenery in Vancouver.

As others have said, it was a Bulldog Mac.  For most of its life working as the switcher for the Lucky Larger Brewery in Vancouver, Washington it looked stock.  The story I’ve heard is that sometime in the ‘60’s students at the local community college (Clark College) decided it should look more like a steam loco and fabricated the sheet metal body shown in the picture.  The truck was routinely stored on the street outside the brewery, so was a common sight when driving by.  There was track in the street up the to brewery and the Mack was used to move box cars between the brewery and the SP&S (later BN) yard.

The truck disappeared when the brewery was closed.

Doug Auburg

Battle Ground WA

Garth,

The photo appears to show chain drive on the truck.  Assuming the 1927 date is accurate, the cab and radiator indicate that this is probably an AC model Mack.

v/r

Brian Rochon

Silver Spring, MD

Garth-

I googled “Lucky Vancouver Railroad Brewery” and it returned the Lucky Lager the first beer produced by the 1934  General Brewing Company in California which formed a strategic partnership with Coast Breweries in Vancouver Island, BC and other Canadian breweries.   It expanded in the 50’s and 60’s as Lucky Lager Brewing Company in Vancouver WA….which is likely the venue for the photo.

Charlie Vlk