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Unusual connected gondolas used on a UP work train.

 

Here is a photo of what appears to be a UP MOW/work train that has several "connected gondolas".

 

Photo  caption: Referred to as a “work platform” because of it's versatility, this is a consist of gondola cars without bulkheads and overlapping floor plates and side walls.

 

 

MOW CONNECTED GONS PROTO 1

MOW CONNECTED GONS PROTO 2

MOW CONNECTED GONS PROTO 3

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Images (3)
  • MOW CONNECTED GONS PROTO  1
  • MOW CONNECTED GONS PROTO  2
  • MOW CONNECTED GONS PROTO  3
Last edited by pro hobby
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 The sides of the cars open  as well. That type of car has been around forever. "hart car" although these are a little fancier. .  When I first started (1965) as a brakeman I was assigned to a work train unloading ballast.  W had about 30 hart  cars, a caboose, that we lived in. 2 geeps , a steam generator , a Lidgerwood,(which is a big steam driven winch) A right hand plow in one car.  a left hand plow in another , bunk cars and a few other tool  cars with all   the stuff required.

 

anyway....  a plow (either right or left) was pulled through the cars by the winch and ballast was unloaded out the side doors.

 

No radios. the Road - master would be back behind the plow and  had a green flag that he would  wave telling the winch operator to start winding up the cable. Another red flag for stop.

 

Our job as the train crew was to switch the cars as necessary, stretch out the cable. and move the train as required by the road-master. Unloading was often on the fly.( All in train order territory)

More than you wanted to hear.. I often wonder what happened to all that old junk.

  Jim the lucky loaders are all out of commission due to a fatality from one of them.
  When they worked they worked great,but a MOW foreman told me they had just gone past their usefulness.
 
 
 
Originally Posted by Big Jim:

That is a lot safer than having one of those "Creepy-Crawlers" skimming over the the tops of the cars! This isn't the exact piece of equipment that I had in mind, but, it is pretty close.

 

Last edited by mackb4

I've seen both the loco-hauled and DMU versions here on the Georgetown Railroad and Union Pacific.  Apparently the company that built them is right here in the area I live!

 

There's also a "Dump Train" with several specialized hoppers and a conveyor car at one end.

 

I remember when I was little, I thought these trains were for revenue service, as there are at least two limestone quarries in the area (I'm referring to the ones in McNeil and Georgetown), and limestone traffic is expectantly quite common.

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