PRR G24 Gondola

The Prototype - Pennsylvania Railroad

This class of gondolas are 50-ton, steel-framed, fixed-ends gondolas of U.S.R.A. design. They were originally built in 1919. The PRR had 750 of these cars listed on the ORER in 1950. This is an insignificant number in PRR terms, but still worth modeling. The car had a load capacity of 100,000lbs, weighed over 40,000lbs, and was just under 43 feet long over the strikers. It used 2D-F3 trucks. All but one of these cars were gone by 1958; none survived to the PC merger. The prototype photo below is believed to have been taken in 1937, after the wooden sides were converted to steel.

(#351770, source: The Keystone Modeler #7 February, 2004)

The Model

The model shown below of road number 351475 is by S Scale America (Des Plaines Hobbies) part number SSA16061, which I bought second-hand. This is an accurate road number. Checking the model's dimensions against published prototype measurements shows this to be very accurate. The only thing that is not correct on this model are the trucks. The S-Helper Service's Andrews 50-ton trucks will need to be used instead. By 1930 the original wooden side panels were replaced with steel ones, but for my model I am willing to live with this discrepancy (I model 1950). S Scale America created the as-built model. The model weighs 8oz (228g), which is very heavy for this size model (should be about 6oz). That was the first thing I noticed when I received it. Since I received it "used", it has a few items that need work. The brake wheel and two of the steps are broken off, and will need to be fixed.

The model was reviewed in the November 2007 issue of "Scale Rails" (the NMRA magazine), where it was not issued a NMRA-compliance warrant due to the wheel gauge being too narrow (easily fixed), and it was 1.7oz too heavy (which I actually like).


(scale wheels and HO-scale couplers installed; original trucks)

(weathering applied)

Articles

References