PC: Re: PC 598291

[Bx39crle <Bx39crle@xxxxxxx>]

  In a message to the Penn Central mailing list dated 11 April 1998, Roger
Hensley reported seeing:

<< ...a very faded green gondola passing by. PC 598291... >>

  On 27 September 1995, I spotted PC 598362 at the BN's Clyde Yard in Cicero,
Illinois.  If I didn't know better, I would've said the color of that car was
black, but reviewing what little video I shot of it that day, I can make out a
few patches of what could have been the remnants of Penn Central Jade Green.

  Though I'm not certain that this would constitute the original series-number
for these cars, my copy of the January 1994 ORER lists 525 of these 65-foot
gondolas still serving Conrail at that time in PC series 597898-598497.  This
is one of those PRR/PC/CR ORER entries that includes the railroad class number
in the description column:  G44a.

  On page 160 of the 1970 Car & Locomotive Cyclopedia, there's a black and
white photo showing a brand new PC 597953 in what obviously must be the Jade
Green paint scheme.  I could make out the same "noodle" logo on PC 598362, as
well as that PC-style lettering used in the reporting marks; however, the
serial numbers had been restencilled at some point (probably to make them
legible through all that grime) and I wouldn't bet my life that they'd been
redone using the exact same type of numerals.

  Though I have no information as to exactly when these cars were built, the
caption to the photo reads as follows:

<< Penn Central 65 ft. 6 in. gondolas with corrugated sides, fixed ends and
steel floor.  Built by the railroad. >>

  Which tells us that the Penn Central itself built these cars, but since the
gondola's side panels are actually smooth, it also tells us that a Cyclopedia
may contain errors, some perhaps not so obvious.

  Accompanying the photo is one of those sketch-like car diagrams which have
(or at least, should have) a well-deserved reputation amongst modelers for
being inaccurate, at least in so far as they misrepresent or are lacking in
those details important to "rivet counting" freight car enthusiasts.
  (The photo shows that the gon's side has 18 panels and 17 square side posts,
each ending with a short taper at the bottom - and yes, they are riveted on,
though I won't attempt to count them here.)
  The bottom of the side is not straight, but rather has a fishbelly profile,
there being a slight slope running down beneath the 3rd and 4th panels from
either end.  The 14 central panels are all the same width, which the diagram
states is 3' 3-1/2", though actually this is the distance between post
centers.  (Much more trustworthy is the dimensional data that these diagrams
indicate, which is after all their main purpose.)
  The 2 outermost panels near either corner of the car are noticably wider.
The diagram states gives 4' 10" as the width of the penultimate panels, but I
can't deduce the width of the panels right next to the corner, since the
diagram only gives a dimension taken from the center of the outermost side
post to the face of the striker (5' 11-1/2").
  Well, OK, I suppose if one added up all the panel widths given and
substracted this total from the 65' 6" inside lenght, then divided by 2, one
could come up with a figure of 4' 10-1/2", so close to the 4' 10" dimension
given for the penultimate panels that, all other considerations aside, one
could then say, with an eye towards building an HO scale model, that the 2
panels nearest the corner are equal in width.


    Tom Jelinek
    Bx39crle -AT- aol.com