From a very old post for which I did some more research ...



ChetFrench wrote:

The January 1, 1957 Wabash equipment book shows all 50 cars equipped
with racks in 1956. Those equipped with Ford frame racks had an "8"

stenciled above the reporting marks and the cars with Mercury frame
racks were stenciled"54".

Tim O'Connor replied:

It's very odd that 50 had racks in 1957, but only 33 in 1959
(their numbers are listed in Note DD), and then all 50 again
later.

According to the October 1955 ORER no Wabash gondolas in the series
12600-12649 were assigned to auto frame service, but the April 1959 ORER
lists 33 converted to with racks to carry Ford passenger frames with the
individuals cars listed in note DD1,and the October 1959 ORER lists all
50 of these gondolas assigned to auto frame service. Which source should
we believe? I would tend to the ORER as railroads often had plans, but
often lack funds to implement them. I don't have an ORER between October
1955 and April 1959 to verify Chet's information.

As of April 1959 the following 33 gondolas in the 12600 to 12649 series
had racks to haul passenger frames.

12600 to
12606,12610,12611,12612,12614,12616,12617,12618,12621,12623,12624,12627,\
12628,12629,12631,12633to
12636,12638,12639,12640,12643,12645,12647,12648,12649

Hopefully having the cars numbers and a narrower date range will help
models determine which car numbers are appropriate for general service
or for auto frame service. Did anyone find a photo of these cars with
the racks for auto frame service?

Regards,

Bob Witt

Bob,


The July 1958 ORER shows the same 33 cars having racks for Ford
passenger frames (Note DD) and Note HH lists the other 17 cars having Mercury frame racks. Check the 1959 Register to see if the other 17 cars show having racks. The racks were installed in these cars sometime during 1956. My next source of information, the Jan 1964 Wabash equipment book shows all 50 cars equipped with Ford frame racks.

Chet French
Dixon, IL

Chet,

Yes, you are correct. I am not sure how I missed the other note, but the
other 17 cars are under Note AAA1 in the April 1959 ORER that states
they have a different AAR mechanical designation than GB. The note
doesn't explicitly state they are equipped with racks for auto frame
loading. In the October 1959 all gondolas in series 12600 to 12649 are
designated as AAR GBS and note BB states that they are equipped with
racks for passenger frame loading.

Hopefully this clarifies the dates of the conversions and also indicates
that these gondolas ran for a relatively brief time as general service
gondolas.

Does anyone have photos and descriptions of these racks as the Tangent
model seems to be begging for this conversion?

Bob Witt



Chet French wrote:

Bob,


The July 1958 ORER shows the same 33 cars having racks for Ford
passenger frames (Note DD) and Note HH lists the other 17 cars having

Mercury frame racks. Check the 1959 Register to see if the other 17
cars show having racks. The racks were installed in these cars sometime
during 1956. My next source of information, the Jan 1964 Wabash
equipment book shows all 50 cars equipped with Ford frame racks.

The January 1, 1957 Wabash equipment book shows all 50 cars

equipped

with racks in 1956. Those equipped with Ford frame racks had an

"8"

stenciled above the reporting marks and the cars with Mercury frame
racks were stenciled"54".

Tim O'Connor replied:

It's very odd that 50 had racks in 1957, but only 33 in 1959
(their numbers are listed in Note DD), and then all 50 again
later.

According to the October 1955 ORER no Wabash gondolas in the series
12600-12649 were assigned to auto frame service, but the April 1959

ORER

lists 33 converted to with racks to carry Ford passenger frames with

the

individuals cars listed in note DD1,and the October 1959 ORER lists

all

50 of these gondolas assigned to auto frame service. Which source

should

we believe? I would tend to the ORER as railroads often had plans,

but

often lack funds to implement them. I don't have an ORER between

October

1955 and April 1959 to verify Chet's information.

As of April 1959 the following 33 gondolas in the 12600 to 12649

series

had racks to haul passenger frames.

12600 to

12606,12610,12611,12612,12614,12616,12617,12618,12621,12623,12624,12627,\
\

12628,12629,12631,12633to
12636,12638,12639,12640,12643,12645,12647,12648,12649

Hopefully having the cars numbers and a narrower date range will

help

models determine which car numbers are appropriate for general

service

or for auto frame service. Did anyone find a photo of these cars

with

the racks for auto frame service?

Regards,

Bob Witt