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Odd Uses for Abandoned Cars
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Steve Vallee
Dear Group...
I spotted this tidbit on page 133 in the October, 1937 issue of Railroad Magazine: In August section of "On The Spot" (a department of Railroad Magazine) was a request for information about odd uses for abandoned cars. At Port Royal, Pa., is a Tuscarora Valley narrow-gage boxcar used as a home. At Huntingdon, Pa., the Pennsy has turned a boxcar into a clubhouse. during the St. Patrick's day flood in 1936 the Pennsy dumped a lot of old hopper cars over the bank near Johnstown, Pa., to keep the river from undermining the track.---PAUL E. WESTBROOK, JR., 3336 broad Ave., Altoona, Pa. Here is my question. Does anyone out there know where this hopper dumping took place and is those hoppers are still there? Steve Vallee |
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Anthony Thompson <thompson@...>
Steve Vallee wrote:
I spotted this tidbit on page 133 in the October, 1937 issue of Railroad Magazine:SP did this kind of thing several times along the Eel River in northern California, especially around the heavy floods of 1961 and 1968, and many of the steel GS gons used are still there (with bent frames, etc.). I saw some of them a few years back. But I'm not sure this qualifies as an "odd" use. Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA 2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 www.signaturepress.com (510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, thompson@... Publishers of books on railroad history |
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al_brown03
Repairing a washout after a big flood in 1927, the Rutland used 28 wooden boxcars as riprap near East Clarendon, Vermont. See Nimke, "Rutland", vol 3, p 11.
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Al Brown, Melbourne, Fla. --- In STMFC@..., Anthony Thompson <thompson@...> wrote:
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Joel Holmes <lehighvalley@...>
Likewise, the Lehigh Valley dumped quite a few old coal hoppers in the
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Lehigh River in the Lehigh Gorge during one of the high water floods sometime in the 50's. I do not recall the exact date or storm, but I think it was in the 50's. Joel Holmes Repairing a washout after a big flood in 1927, the Rutland used 28 wooden |
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Derrick Brashear <shadow@...>
On Fri, Oct 28, 2011 at 2:25 PM, Steve <stvvallee@...> wrote:
**There are pictures in one of the books I have. I'm not there, but my recollection is it was just compass east of where Parkhill Rd and 2nd St in East Conemaugh, PA, are, along the west/north bank of the Little Conemaugh. I don't recall seeing them while on Amtrak but nor can I tell you I looked hard. -- Derrick |
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Malcolm H. Houck
I spotted this tidbit on page 133 in the October, 1937 issue of
Railroad Magazine:SP did this kind of thing several times along the Eel River in northern California, especially around the heavy floods of 1961 and 1968, and many of the steel GS gons used are still there (with bent frames, etc.). I saw some of them a few years back. But I'm not sure this qualifies as an "odd" use. While also not an "odd" use, the disposal of surplus or unused cars to stem flooding is not unusual. The absolute "granddaddy" of all might very well be the attempt to stem the flooding of the Knox Coal Company River Slope Mine near Pittston, Pa. in January of 1959. The mining broke through the bed of the Susquehanna River and the Lehigh Valley dumped over 50 coal hoppers and something on the order of 400+ mine cars into the void. . . .along with several thousand bales of hay, carloads of ties, and many tons of mine slack and waste. None of these efforts stopped the flooding, and finally dams were built from the river bank to both ends of Wintermoot Island to isolate the immense hole in the river bottom. To my knowledge that all was then filled in and created a peninsula out into the river proper. . . all still there. By 1959 the hard coal business was essentially at an economic end, and had been for some time. The LV twin hoppers were no more than so many tons of scrap and dumping these into the river and the river bottom void, while depriving the line of any recovery of scrap revenue, certainly excused the LV from having to store them. Wood framed caboose cars were often used as crew rest or camp cars, either left on trucks and parked on sidings, or simply set off on makeshift foundations of ties or cribbing. With stoves and bunks already in place, this was an often employed use for these cars. . . . enough so as not to qualify at all as "odd." Mal Houck |
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Aidrian Bridgeman-Sutton <smokeandsteam@...>
It ay be slightly outside the strict guidelines for the group, but there has
been thriving industry in New Zealand in excavating and sometimes restoring steam locomotives that were dumped in similar circumstances. Here's a link to a pair of 1870s Rogers locos that came out of rivers http://www.reocities.com/nzsteam/rogers.html Aidrian Now back in NZ again -- Beer has no effect on concrete, but unless the concrete is specially treated the taste of the beer could be affected. (Military Engineering Vol XIV, Concrete, WO Code No 8626, 1952. Army elastic bands in a temperate climate have a shelf life of 1 year but in a tropical climate it is only 12 months. (Manual of Army Ordnance Services Volume 1 Pamphlet No 2 Part 5 Appendix K, Army Code No. 60065-1, 1977). |
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Don <riverman_vt@...>
Thanks for sharing this, Aidrian. Both locos look really great but especially #38 with her Russia Iron boiler jacket.
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Cordially, Don Valentine --- In STMFC@..., Aidrian Bridgeman-Sutton <smokeandsteam@...> wrote:
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