Are there any loads that are made specifically to fit the MTH (Premier) composite gondola?
I'm looking for a scrap metal load for my MTH ATSF composite gondola to go along with a burro crane scene on the layout.
And yes I'm already aware I can make my own. Just wanted to see what's out there first.
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Thanks for the info if I ever do a sugar beet load (although more an SP thing then Santa Fe). Still a clever idea.
I'm using this particular gon to sort of simulate a Santa Fe Caswell gondola. Not perfect, but looks close enough to me.
I've used these people before for PWgondolas. Real nice stuff. If the MTH ones don't fit, perhaps they can do a custom size (I can't vouch for that but it's worth a look).
The MTH scrap load will fit width wise but you would have to cut it as it would be too long for your car.
Interesting leads, thanks
The new composite gondola is the same size as an older MTH Premier gondola. I don't know the product number, but I got a gravel load on a closeout that said it was for a Premier gondola and it fit perfectly. Unfortunately the package didn't give any more information and the maker is out of business. I think it was Blue Mountain, something like that.
The MTH scrap load will fit width wise but you would have to cut it as it would be too long for your car.
Yes it does fit. Cut to 10 5/16" length. Thanks for the tip on the MTH load.
Isn't that gondola in the picture the bottom drop kind?
Wouldn't a bottom opening gondola be used more for small things, like sugar beets or sand, rather than large chunky things like scrap metal? Wouldn't the scrap metal pieces be too large to be unloaded through the bottom hatches?
It seems to me that a mill gondola is a better car for scrap metal than a gondola with opening bottom hatches.
Contact St Charles Model Works for ALL KINDS of gondola and hopper car loads.
As info, thus drop bottom gons generally carried gravel/ballast, or coal as on the GN and NP railroads. Naturally the railroad that made those drop bottom gons really famous was the SP, with their high side additions for hauling sugar beets.
Isn't that gondola in the picture the bottom drop kind?
Wouldn't a bottom opening gondola be used more for small things, like sugar beets or sand, rather than large chunky things like scrap metal? Wouldn't the scrap metal pieces be too large to be unloaded through the bottom hatches?
Yes you are right for the most part.
But the Santa Fe did sometimes use their Caswell gondolas for right of way scrap collection. So not a lot of heavy scrap. More like odds and ends you'd find along a railroad that a Burro crane with a magnet would pick up. And it wouldn't be unloaded through the bottom hatches. This is what I'm trying to simulate.
ever think about using those spacers you use to put laminate floors together?
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