BRHSLIST
[Top] [All Lists]

Re: [BRHSlist] waycar internal life

To: BRHSlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [BRHSlist] waycar internal life
From: "zephyr9903" <zephyr9903@iowatelecom.net>
Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 09:02:11 -0600
Delivered-to: archives@nauer.org
Delivered-to: mailing list BRHSlist@yahoogroups.com
In-reply-to: <20030917141911.53460.qmail@web40413.mail.yahoo.com>
List-unsubscribe: <mailto:BRHSlist-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com>
Mailing-list: list BRHSlist@yahoogroups.com; contact BRHSlist-owner@yahoogroups.com
References: <0bb801c37d1b$e52fcd10$0f05460a@mongolia> <20030917141911.53460.qmail@web40413.mail.yahoo.com>
Reply-to: BRHSlist@yahoogroups.com
On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 07:19:11 -0700 (PDT), John D. Mitchell, Jr. wrote
> Good job Russ. But I do take exception to one small
> part. While the cupola may have been forward much of
> the time, there was no "normal" position for it. The
> waycar could be run either way and was. Most of the
> time, it did not get turned at the end a run. The
> cupola seats just got flipped over and the markers
> were hung on the other end. In my part of the world,
> most crews wanted the cupola to the rear when handling
> loaded coal trains, because it cut down the dust, they
> had to inhale (or so they claimed).

<snip>

This may be date-dependent -  I recall a conversation with a Q freight 
conductor in the late '50s or early '60s, when he stated that crews 
definitely preferred the cupola to the rear.  He said this was because of the 
increasing height of housecars beginning around 1930 or so - the extra 20 
feet or so back from the nearest car end definitely enhanced the forward 
view.  Many smaller terminals (such as branchlines) used wyes to turn the 
locomotive (in days of steam and even later), and it was common practice to 
take the waycar around the wye as well.  At a terminal with a turntable, the 
question of whether waycars were turned was somewhat dependent on the 
cooperation of the roundhouse crew and the press of time.  As servicing was 
streamlined (in the years after WW II), the practice of turning waycars 
became spottier (this may also have been influenced by the still-increasing 
height of housecars, making the view advantage of a rear cupola less helpful.

As I recall (remember, I no longer have my library for confirmation) - this 
tendency related to dates can be confirmed by sampling waycar-in-train photos 
through the various eras - cuploa-forward photos before approx. 1945 were not 
common.

Just my recollections for what they're worth -

Another point from the practical modeler's standpoint - if you like lighted 
markers such as those from Utah Pacific (now Tomar, I believe), favoring one 
orientation is helpful.  With a 1 scale foot hole being drilled into the 
carbody for installation, *our* markers are much tougher to switch than the 
prototypes were!

Marshall Thayer
Mt. Pleasant, IA   

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Buy Ink Cartridges or Refill Kits for Your HP, Epson, Canon or Lexmark
Printer at Myinks.com. Free s/h on orders $50 or more to the US & Canada. 
http://www.c1tracking.com/l.asp?cid=5511
http://us.click.yahoo.com/l.m7sD/LIdGAA/qnsNAA/8ZCslB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ 



<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>