With reference to my post last month, I’ve found a 1968 letter from Armour thanking the Burlington for the use of a waycar while they were testing refrigeration units in transit,
the car being used to carry crews and recording equipment. No details were given about the tests but, as this is at least the third occasion that waycars were used for mobile testing, waycars were evidently regarded as suited to this work.
Back during the Burlington Brake Trials in 1876, test equipment was installed in the waycar at the end of the test trains to measure the severity of the braking effect. The slideometer consisted of a wooden trough 14 feet long and 6 inches wide, screwed to
the centre of the waycar. In the trough was a wrought iron weight 5 inches in diameter weighing about 16 pounds which could slide in either direction, and the distance travelled indicated the severity of the movement. As well as the braking effect, the slideometer
also demonstrated what happened when the train started moving. It was believed at that time that coupling slack was essential for getting a train moving, but the tests showed that was not the case. The slideometer demonstrated to the industry (members of the
braking company’s management were posted to the waycar) that, with slack couplers, the shocks transmitted to the waycar were extreme and that passage in a waycar was dangerous.
A similar device was used on the Gorre & Daphetid.
Rupert Gamlen
Auckland
From: Rupert Gamlen
Sent: Tuesday, 28 April 2020 5:51 pm
To: CBQ@groups.io
Subject: Waycar 13575
A couple of months ago there was a short discussion about NE-12A waycar 13575 which featured in an eBay auction.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/CB-Q-13575-BURLINGTON-CABOOSE-duplicate-RAILROAD-35-MM-Slide/352966194100?hash=item522e6cb3b4:g:zikAAOSwG11eOaC4 The query was about the cables leading from the cupola.
I’ve found a piece from 1961 about a new design REA Express refrigerated trailer which was tested on the Burlington on fast mail-express-piggyback train no. 14, with a new NE-12A waycar (possibly 13585) coupled to it. The waycar carried various observers and
equipment to test the nitrogen consumption and temperatures in the trailer, which would have required cables or piping between the trailer and the waycar. There is no indication as to how many times the trailers were tested but could 13575 have been used for
a similar purpose?
Rupert Gamlen
Auckland NZ
