Help identify these reefers?
- Thread starter beiland
- Start date
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A razor saw to cut the floor off?
Here is a photo of some on the Santa Fe Grand Canyon Limited in San Bernadino. In this case strawberries headed east.
And another with three reefers immediately behind the locos, from a year later
Perhaps my posting was confusing here? I will be cutting that original chassis in half and lengthening it so those coupler mounts will now be at the end of the car. I'll likely use 2 stiff lengths of steel, on edge, along either side of the motor to regain the stiffness of the cut chassis, .....then attach some lead weights to increase it's traction power,...something like this..
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Iron Horseman
Well-Known Member
Interesting. I suppose I should have guessed that as all their passenger cars have the tops coming off.
A razor saw to cut the floor off?
I do realize that about the passenger cars, but never suspected to about this freight car
I would want to ruin these cars by doing that. rather i have found that Athearn built very similar car with removable bottoms
Iron Horseman
Well-Known Member
It isn't really classified as a freight car. It is an express reefer so called a "head end car" because it would normally be run at the head end of a passenger train. Notice it does not have standard freight trucks, but rather high speed passenger type trucks.
Here is a photo of some on the Santa Fe Grand Canyon Limited in San Bernadino. In this case strawberries headed east.
And another with three reefers immediately behind the locos, from a year later
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Not with those trucks and wheelsets. Walthers.
Iron Horseman
Well-Known Member
The short chassis will have coupler issues. A body mount at the end will not work as pictured because the end of the car will swing out really far on curves and the couplers will not be able to handle the difference. You would have to find some way to make a really long shank swinging arm coupler (on the order of Lionel) to reach from the x-switcher coupler pocket to the end of the car. OR if you could find a way to stretch the chassis, those Alco wheels look pretty good under that car.
BigGRacing
Aka. Gary Russell
Hey Beiland, I see ConCor on one of the chassis, is that a Kato brand by chance?
Yes they are older ConCor models with the power system supplied by Kato
Perhaps my posting was confusing here? I will be cutting that original chassis in half and lengthening it so those coupler mounts will now be at the end of the car. I'll likely use 2 stiff lengths of steel, on edge, along either side of the motor to regain the stiffness of the cut chassis, .....then attach some lead weights to increase it's traction power,...something like this..
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Iron Horseman
Well-Known Member
Perfect.
Just a few re-thoughts on that 'frame stiffener'. Any frame stiffener would likely need to be 'permanently' adhered to those existing frame plates at either end. But they need to provide access to the motor, drive shafts, etc,so likely something like that steel rule on edge would NOT be appropriate. Have to come up with another idea?
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