Yea, verily. In 2005 this group discussed the Rutland's Alburgh (Vt.) coal trestle and related topics, including use of hoppers to move things other than coal. A search of the archive for "Alburgh

Rob-- Thanks for putting things into perspective and giving me a good chuckle in the process. Someday, I'd love to travel (as would my daughter) to your "West". All the best, Steve

Do you think time of the year had anything to do with off road hopper shipments? I would think that during the summer railroads would want to use their own cars. I saw a NYC steam era video on TV

Sure. According to Gehrke's "Freight Traffic Geography of the Seaboard Air Line", in 1950 much of the petroleum delivered to Florida got to Tampa by ship, was loaded into tank cars there. Al Brown,

So what do you think the answer is, Ben and Armand? As to "best models out there", it's no Kadee model but if you consider the price I think it was pretty good for the money, at least before

Mike Brock wrote ???? Mike, please explain.

Group- I have noticed that a number of early 1937 AAR boxcars were built with lapped seams and the later cars were done with "crimped seams". I am working on a couple of SP 1937 AAR cars and there

And keep in mind that these "coal cars" also were used to move gravel, limestone, sand, various ores, iron-rich earth, sugar beets, and coke. So the wanderings of open hoppers cannot be explained

My trusty "Trackside in Duluth" shows on pages 54,68 and 69 a Northern Pacific W-3 2-8-2 hauling a train in January, 1958, the first car of which is an Erie 52'-6" drop-end gondola; on pages 78 and

Yes, the cruisers and battleships were often at Hunters Point, where a large enough crane was available to lift an entire turret from the ship for repair work. The slip with that crane, and

Tony, Since you live in the Bay area, since you're a metals engineer (correct term?) and a freight-car historian, thought I'd take a shot in the dark -- so to speak -- and ask you about a STMFC-era

Ed Mines wrote: "Athearns ribbed hopper!" No for two reasons, Ed. First, I wouldn't consider this model "one of the best hopper models out there", as Armand has characterized. Second, while there

Mike Brock wrote: Did they include Tennessee? They did come to Memphis and I always think of Tennessee when someone starts a silly argument about where the west starts. Kinda' discredits

Ed, Butane was a popular alternative fuel for large highway trucks in the west up into the 1950s. Most brands of trucks were available with an optional butane engine. I believe Hall Scott of Berkeley

The Athearn ribbed twin is remarkably similar to a PRR H31 (no subclass), although I do not think intended as such. The dimensions are actually pretty close! They can be upgraded to a pretty nice

Jim Dick makes an interesting statement...perhaps assumed but not expressed so well before: Snip The key word here is, I think, "near". Going back to a rather simpler example...the N&W...Even when

Distillate was a regional, petroleum derived fuel which could be used in tractors. I watch antique tractor TV shows and every so often thet'll show a tractor which runs on distillate. My recollection

Thanks Mike, Yes I have that Burlington Bulletin, and have practically worn it out. There are a number of interesting MP hopper photos, and even USRA gons. Jerry **************Looking for love

At the risk of giving Richard Hendrickson carpal tunnel from repeatedly jumping for the delete button, may I continue the coal car discussion just a bit further. First I think Armand make a

In a word, yes. Also, I believe, a response to the UP's "Serves All the West," which was a bit of an exaggeraion but not much - certainly by comparison. Both slogans began to appear on box and