Wood Chip Freight Cars

Here's a good article:

http://www.trainlife.com/artic...od-chip-service-cars

nice find

Bob,

Thank you for your answer, with information and pictures.

Ralph

I recently read (I'll have to find it) that the wood chip industry was a relatively new industry back in the 50s-60s, until then I believe it was considered a waste product.

Seaboard Air Line and Atlantic Coast Line had wood chip cars, but I was surprised most of them were built in the 60s and not earlier.

Bob,

I really never heard, or seen them, until recently due to Weaver Models' advertisement, of them.

Maybe other companies have made, or are making scale models, in addition to Weaver Models.

Weaver Models' models are great looking, as well as, well made and made right here in the U.S. of A.

http://www.weavermodels.com/page55.html

Ralph 

Wood chip cars in the Pacific Northwest began with converted box cars with the roofs removed and progressed to drop bottom gondolas with extended sides.  In the 1960s 70 and then 100 ton purpose built wood chip cars came into use.  Seeing a 100 ton wood chip gondola end dumped is spectacular.  

Thank you Ted,

For the useful info.
Ralph

Ralph,

Weaver posting the photo of that car is what got me looking a few months back too!

Seaboard had a couple of different cars:

Converted Hopper:

Bottom Drop Hopper

When I was into HO I had an ACL car like the one Weaver is offering, but always thought it was a fantasy car...until I got  Paul Faulks ACL Freight Car Color Guide book.

The chips were burned off at the mills, hence that odd looking funnel looking thing at the mils.  I think once they came up with "pressboard", did wood chips become a product.

SP used to have some HUGE wood chip cars.  GN and BN had some large ones also.

Actually, paper mills use the wood chips in the pulping process.  Slash burners were typically used around saw mills to burn saw dust.

Curt

Not really! Those large screen up-side-down "funnel looking thinks" were for burning the saw dust, NOT the valuable wood chips. Train loads of pulp wood AND wood chips were highly desirable for the paper mills.

Thank you gentlemen for all of your valuable information.

Unless, I'm completely wrong, from what I can gather is that 'Wood Chip Cars' were 'HOME MADE,' sometime either in the '50's, or more commonly in the '60' and then manufactured by the larger freight rail car companies, as a specific purpose car, used by RR's., which were located near saw and paper mills.

'I THINK?!!!!'

Truthfully, though 'Wood Chip Cars' seem logical, but I thought they were 'FANTASY CARS,' as I posted before, because I have never seen them from the '50's, to now-a-days, at some RR's. here in lower N.Y., N.J. and/or Penna., or even advertised by scale model train manufacturers and if so, I never saw, or paid attention to their advertising of them, until now. 

Ralph 

Here's a B.&W. photo. of a Southern 'Wood Chip' car being turned over by a rotary dumper, to dump its load of wood chips, at Westvaco Corporation's plant in Charleston, S.C.:

http://southern.railfan.net/ties/1974/74-1/dump.html

Enjoy!

Ralph

Nice photo Ralph!

Another type of car I'd like to have is a "Stump Gondola".  ACL and SAL had them to haul stumps for making turpentine.  The SAL cars had slots cut in the bottom edges of the sides of the gondolas so they could be cleaned out.

Google "Turpentine camps" and see what you get, would make a nice facility on a small layout.

Bob,

I found this on E-bay, an HO undecorated 'SAL' Stump Gondola, notice the slots in the sides, towards the bottom, the picture has to be enlarged, for a clear picture.

1http://www.ebay.com/itm/Seaboard-Air-Line-SAL-HO-Stump-Gondola-Undec-/12174200377

Ralph

Thanks Ralph

Seaboard had some oddball cars, makes it hard for me to model but I enjoy a challenge every now and then

Bob,

Am I suffering from oldtimer's disease when I remember composite gons with the wood sides removed, leaving only the steel frame, hauling stumps?

ChipR 

Chip,

I think you may have answered a question I had

I saw a photo of just the car you're talking about not to long ago, but couldn't figure out what it was or why they made it like that.  Now I see it was a composite gondola with the wooden sides removed, thanks!

I don't recall which RR it was in the photo though, I'll have to dig out my books.