Golden Gate Depot to Make 120-ton Battleship Gondolas

can you post a copy of ad?

mikeg

Here it is.

Swell. Be interesting to see what they sell for.....

Now, GGD can make the N&W 70-ton 3-bay hoppers to pull behind the myriad Y-class and A-class articulateds.

tell me more Scott.

mikeg

I'll be working on a price this week. Shouldn't be too expensive.

Cool prototype! Were there any other original buyers? I know of a few steel mills that still use them today.

rex desilets posted:

Swell. Be interesting to see what they sell for.....

Now, GGD can make the N&W 70-ton 3-bay hoppers to pull behind the myriad Y-class and A-class articulateds.

I second that on the N&W hoppers.

I remember these from an old Model Railroader article on how to scratchbuild them in HO. They always stuck out in my mind for the six wheel trucks. I think I can make room for a couple in my collection

(didn't know C&O had them--the article only mentioned Virginian, to the best of my recollection)

---PCJ

I've added these to the GGD web site. Welcoming orders now. We'll do as many as 20 car numbers unless someone orders more. . Optional Coal Load will be an add on. Fully Detailed for sure. 2R and 3R.

what is the purpose of battleship gondolas?

it is totally out of my railroad experience.  were they used at steel mills for ? or outside of steel mills for carrying bulk cargo? interesting and different freight car.

mikeg

One word for the purpose: COAL

Mine to tidewater loaded eastbound,empty westbound. They started life as 120 tons but were rebuilt to 100 ton capacity due to limitations of the brake systems.

I hope the VGN car is what is being produced. The C&O car is shorter and has different trucks.

I have put in my reservation for a dozen in VGN.

George Lasley

sdmann posted:

I'll be working on a price this week. Shouldn't be too expensive.

Need something to pull behind the new electrics. Have to order tomorrow but need to know $$$ to finalize.

Now about adding N and W...

Bill Webb posted:

Need something to pull behind the new electrics. Have to order tomorrow but need to know $$$ to finalize.

Now about adding N and W...

The reservation's page at Golden Gate Depot shows $119.95

Jim

jd-train posted:

Bill Webb posted:

Need something to pull behind the new electrics. Have to order tomorrow but need to know $$$ to finalize.

Now about adding N and W...

The reservation's page at Golden Gate Depot shows $119.95

Jim

...and, of course, you need at least 20....

jd-train posted:

Bill Webb posted:

Need something to pull behind the new electrics. Have to order tomorrow but need to know $$$ to finalize.

Now about adding N and W...

The reservation's page at Golden Gate Depot shows $119.95

Jim

Is that with or without coal load

I am so happy by this announcement - I may have to run up to Scott and give him a big kiss at the next York show, he’s made me the happiest girl in the world! (you’ve been warned Scott).

I have been wanting a bunch of battleship gondolas to pull behind my Virginian Blue Ridge and my only choices were either very expensive 2 rail models (which are beautiful and very rare) or using the one I have to send to a mold maker and make a rubber casting and have a low run plastic run done (like I did for the e60).  Of course trucks were a big problem as buckeye trucks are not common except as spare parts on locomotive tenders (again expensive).

I had e-mailed Scott and politely asked him to consider it, knowing that the cost of tooling is a real burden today so I didn’t have high hopes. Well some other folks must have voiced their desire to have them made because here they are - now make sure you order 5 or 10 or 20 so we can see them built!!

And to Scott - My Mother thanks you, my father thanks you, my sister thanks you, and most of all I thank you!!!

Do I need to get a restraining order?

Thanks for your friendship Mike.

rex desilets posted:

jd-train posted:

Bill Webb posted:

Need something to pull behind the new electrics. Have to order tomorrow but need to know $$$ to finalize.

Now about adding N and W...

The reservation's page at Golden Gate Depot shows $119.95

Jim

...and, of course, you need at least 20....

Thanks for the help. Glad Scott is doing lay-away. He is about to break my bank. Need 20, ordered 10.

I just reserved a 2R VGN. Now if only the trucks would be available as a separate item.

These gons behind a 2-6-6-6.  Good combo to yest bridges.  Model and prototype.

I just reserved 13.  Why 13?  Wanted more than 12 but couldn't afford 20.  I'll find a way for the 13, better get them while you can, I'm sure they will be extremely hard to come by on the secondary market.

I and I know others had asked for these as well.

Thanks Scott

sdmann posted:

I've added these to the GGD web site. Welcoming orders now. We'll do as many as 20 car numbers unless someone orders more. . Optional Coal Load will be an add on. Fully Detailed for sure. 2R and 3R.

Scott, great product. Will there be two different models?

IT's too bad that Scott couldn't do the PRR class G23 Gondola...

prrhorseshoecurve posted:

IT's too bad that Scott couldn't do the PRR class G23 Gondola...

 

If enough customers want it he just might!

It would seem like a natural.......

Norm

Anything Pennsy sells.....

Did these gondolas ever leave their home roads?

Jan

BobbyD posted:

prrhorseshoecurve posted:

IT's too bad that Scott couldn't do the PRR class G23 Gondola...

 

If enough customers want it he just might!

Note that the PRR had exactly ONE of this gondola class: #306001 as pictured above. 

Since the VGN Gondola is the main focus, we can easily have other road names on these. But there is only 1 tool, all will be the same. I was just told that the C&O version was of a different length, so I made that clear on the web site as well. I'll add PRR to roster.

OH, and was chatting with Bob Heil yesterday. He has a photo of a PRR J1 pulling a string of VGN "Battleship" Gonds on the Pennsyvania Railroad. So these did get around to other roads.

Scott

Scott, what are you doing to me?!?  There is no way I could realistically operate this car.  I don't have a heavy enough main line.  I don't have the Virginian locomotives.  I would need a string of them to be realistic and I don't have any structures that would use them.  Yet it is such a great car that I HAVE to have one, maybe two or three.  You do realize you now need to produce a caboose to go with them.

As to use on other roads, as I recall from Reid these cars were originally acquired to run the early 20th century equivalent of unit trains from the coal fields to Virginian's piers, where they would have been mechanically dumped into ships.  There probably weren't many places in the country that had the facilities to dump these cars if Virginian had been willing to route them off its rails, which in the early years I doubt they were.  C&O's Hampton Roads facilities may have been one of the few.  During the 1930s Virginian lost a court case and was forced to offer westbound coal rates.  Then WWII hit and the ability to ship coal domestically by sea was limited.  So I can see a period when Virginian battleship gons were being used to ship coal over other roads.

I don't know where and I didn't save it but somewhere on the internet is a picture of a VGN gon in captive service at a steel mill.  IiRC there was no lettering and just a number.  Obviously after sold off roster for scrap.

SbsnDaveJfr0 posted:

sdmann posted:

Since the VGN Gondola is the main focus, we can easily have other road names on these. But there is only 1 tool, all will be the same. I was just told that the C&O version was of a different length, so I made that clear on the web site as well. I'll add PRR to roster.

OH, and was chatting with Bob Heil yesterday. He has a photo of a PRR J1 pulling a string of VGN "Battleship" Gonds on the Pennsyvania Railroad. So these did get around to other roads.

Scott

Other roads or maybe one time on just the PRR?  That's the first I've heard the VGN Battleship Gons on a non-home road. I was told by other modelers and historians that these cars never veered off the VGN.  Straight from the coal fields to the docks near Norfolk, VA. I'd love to be proven wrong and that it occurred on more than just one occasion

The Virginian and N&W often had hoppers handled by the PRR across Ohio up to Lake Erie for loading onto lake boats at Sandusky.

There’s many videos of the PRR stomping through Northern Ohio with long strings  of both N&W and VGN hoppers. Wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see Battleships gons run up there. 

The Virginian Battleship gondolas would also show up on the C&O for delivery from the West Virginia coal fields to Columbus, OH where they would be handed off to the PRR.

Looking through my library and some other sources, the C&O and the Virginian had very, very similar looking battleship gondolas. However, the C&O gons were about 6 feet shorter than the Virginian and had about 20 tons less capacity. Other than length the other dimensions look about the same. Also, the C&O had vertical staff mounted brake wheels where the Virginian gons had their brake wheels mounted horizontally against the end of the car. The Virginians have what look like buckeye trucks and C&O series 100500-100999 also look to have buckeye trucks (C&O earlier series 100000-100499 look to have an oddball 6 wheel truck that I would describe as looking like a 6 wheel Andrews truck, if there was any such thing).

I'm in for some Virginian gons, just not sure how many yet. Most pictures of Virginian coal trains I have show the battleship gondolas scattered in with mostly conventional hoppers.

Ken

Joe Congemi posted:

The Virginian Battleship gondolas would also show up on the C&O for delivery from the West Virginia coal fields to Columbus, OH where they would be handed off to the PRR.

Ok, reason enough for this PRR guy to jump on the order bandwagon!

As a Virginian fan I'm thrilled to hear about this! I didn't know C&O had any of them too. 

For a truly prototypical train your really need 100 don't you?   The EL2b's could pull them.

GG1 4877 posted:

For a truly prototypical train your really need 100 don't you?   The EL2b's could pull them.

If Scott is willing to co-sign my mortgage for a big enough house to run a 100 car train then I’ll order that many!