Andy and all:

Could you give me a few line synopsis of how the Bohn
ventilators worked? Were they in place of standard
ice hatches. Did they function as ice hatches and
ventilators?

Thanks,

Mike Aufderheide
Chicago

--- Andy Sperandeo <asperandeo@...> wrote:

Hi Dean,

Those Bohn ventilators were distinctive, but the
cars that had them were ordinary type RS ice-bunker
reefers. The ventilators could be used with any type
of load according to the shipper's preference and
the weather - potatoes were one type of produce
often shipped under ventilation rather than
refrigeration.

The last Santa Fe reefers built with Bohn
ventilators, however, were the 2,500 cars of class
Rr-W delivered in 1920. As accurately modeled in the
Westerfield kit, these indeed had not truss rods but
heavy-duty fishbelly underframes of USRA design.
Later USRA-design Santa Fe reefers had the same
underframes but more conventional hatch covers.

Cars with Bohn ventilators remained in service into
the 1930s, but in 1936 the Santa Fe geared up an
ambitious program to rebuild all of its USRA-design
wood-bodied reefers as all-steel cars on the
original underframes. The result was the prototype
for the InterMountain HO and N scale models.

Four hundred Rr-Ws were rebuilt into class Rr-19
steel reefers in the first year of the program, and
after that their numbers decreased rapidly.
According to the Santa Fe society's reefer book by
Jordan, Hendrickson, et al, the last Rr-W was
rebuilt as an all-steel car in 1945.

So long,

Andy

Andy Sperandeo
Executive Editor
MODEL RAILROADER Magazine
262-796-8776, ext. 461
Fax 262-796-1142
asperandeo@...



[Non-text portions of this message have been
removed]

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Hi Mike,

The ventilators were louvered hoods hinged over the ice bunker openings - they had to be swung out of the way for icing. For refrigerator service, a hinged plug inside the ventilator sealed the bunker - there was no conventional hatch cover. For ventilator service, the plug was locked up into its open position inside the hood, and the hood acted as a scoop to direct air flow into the car. The ventilators at opposite ends of the car faced in opposite directions, so one pair always faced forward in a train.

The Santa Fe didn't order any cars with ventilator hoods after the Rr-W class of 1920, so the ventilators might have been more trouble than they were worth. Many of the cars that had them apparently kept them into the 1930s, however.

So long,

Andy

Andy Sperandeo
Executive Editor
MODEL RAILROADER Magazine
262-796-8776, ext. 461
Fax 262-796-1142
asperandeo@...

Many of the cars that had them apparently kept them into the 1930s,

however.<
Concerned with my era Richard H. says they were all gone by 1941. In
one of my books however there is a picture of one and the picture is dated
'41. So either the date on the picture is wrong or there might have been
one or two around as late as '41. But for most modeling 1 or 2 is the same
as zero.
And I really wanted some as I think they look neat<VBG>.

Jon Miller
AT&SF
For me time has stopped in 1941
Digitrax, Chief/Zephyr systems, JMRI user
NMRA Life member #2623
Member SFRH&MS

Jon Miller wrote:

And I really wanted some as I think they look

neat<VBG>.


Jon,

My thoughts exactly!!!! Oh well.

Thanks for the education Andy.

Mike Aufderheide
Modeling the Monon 1947-8



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Mike Aufderheide wrote:

Could you give me a few line synopsis of how the Bohn
ventilators worked? Were they in place of standard
ice hatches. Did they function as ice hatches and
ventilators?

Andy Sperandeo has answered the basic question already. The "standard ice hatch," before the days of one-piece steel hatches, was really two parts: the plug, which fitted into the bunker opening and made a seal, and the cover, which was the weather protector. The Bohn ventilator just replaced the cover, as Andy described. There was still a plug inside, and it was still latched up when in ventilation service.

Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA
2942 Linden Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 www.signaturepress.com
(510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, thompson@...
Publishers of books on railroad history

Back to the new P2K insulated 10K tanks. Following is the listing
posted on the Walthers site, condensed. Could I have a year bracket (pre or
post war) for the schemes and general usage area, for the files. Time to
order!

MPCX #1563 (Magnolia White)
EORX #1133 (City Service)
GATX #37154 (General American)
MPCX #1611 (Magnolia Black)
SDRX #26148 (Sinclair)
TCX #9367 (Texaco)

Thank you

Jon Miller
AT&SF
For me time has stopped in 1941
Digitrax, Chief/Zephyr systems, JMRI user
NMRA Life member #2623
Member SFRH&MS