The P&WV Hi-Line

[PWVJer]

I started scratch-built, two air-side-dump cars, 1:87 scale. X-131 and X-225/226???
Paper records seem to indicate: these were leased second-hand, re-built/repaired/modified etc.
cars from the Monessen Southwestern RY.(Thus reason "X" and not a "P."?? Looks as if some MofW dump cars
may have been returned to MSW, do to worn/failed/repair conditions?
Did the P&WV/MSW simply replaced these "trade-ins" ?????

.... re-stencil same numbers on repaired/traded cars?. I have no good images, only a few very poor prints,
D.M. work train shots at Oak 1954?
Insurance evaluations $$$ differ from the 1950-58' years.

Were all 30-yd???, 35-ton max, with many road restrictions. circa:1950's?
The MSW roster about 65-70 air dump cars in the 50'd-early 60's.
Do not have any images of these as well.

[jayrod]

Total speculation here:

I haven't thought much about the "P-" vs. "X-" number prefixes for company service cars until now. P&WV did have pieces of equipment marked "X-" throughout its history. Here's my theory.... "X-" prefix cars are not interchangeable - they are captive service and cannot leave the property on their own wheels without special consideration (and those dump cars were real beaters). "P-" prefix cars could leave the property when necessary.

Sound legit?
_________________
Eric Schlentner
Aka, jayrod

[PWVJer]

HMmmm... that sounds like a good reasonable explanation.

PWV dump cars X-131, X225, X226, and the last survivor before
N&W took over X227 seemed to look almost worn-out.

Did ? MSW Monessen, and the Mingo Jct. works of WP Steel
roster a verity of air dumps. Magor, Clark, PACCAR and
maybe some Austin-Western. Think that most of these cars were
30yd. types. The tight, short-car close clearance moves within the
Hot Mills were maybe one reason for 36' cars ????
Anyway .... these P&WV cars had characteristics like they had a bunch of
repairs, over-time, re-placement parts and shop add-ons etc....???

[jayrod]

Again, I'm not sure about all this, but I think at least X-227 was a Clark Car Co. G6 from the 1920s. It certainly looked like one. They were popular with mines (tailings), railroads (ROW construction and maintenance) and steel plants (skull and coke). Originally, #200 thru #225 (note: no X or P) were purchased in the twenties. Maybe 227 and 131 were from another order?
_________________
Eric Schlentner
Aka, jayrod

[jayrod]

A little research - the Clark G6 was a 30yd level load, 43 yd max, 50T capacity. I think about 36' at the coupler faces.

Here's a BC&G car:

_________________
Eric Schlentner
Aka, jayrod

[PWVJer]

...yaa, I have the John La Rue B/W images from 1963-64
for X227. What little bits & pieces of info & pics from the D.M. collection
seem to show a slightly different looking car(s).
Early to mid 1950's work train delay-reports do show X131 and
X225-X226 on many assignments. All 30yd. 40- ton max.
Almost always next to P.603 and P.604(Ditcher Cat. on flat cars)

Were these cars set-up to only dump from one(1) side??

[jayrod]

I'd have to examine photos side by side to make a final determination on the manufacturer. Otherwise, I'm possibly just blowin' smoke....

The Clark G series could dump to either side but you had to manually rotate the end mounted cylinders over to change sides. The H series cars had two sets of cylinders and you didn't have to flip anything. The G series were by far much more popular, though.

Some discrepancies in appearance could be that they were manufactured under license - Greenville, Bethlehem, etc. Don't know for sure if they were all exact copies.

Also, the tonnage could have been derated from 50T to 40T due to age/condition. Those cars usually took a beating and got just enough maintenance to get by. Not what you'd call the pride of the fleet.
_________________
Eric Schlentner
Aka, jayrod

[PWVJer]

Well here is a link to one of the cars used to start the project with:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ESTATE-FIND-HO-SCALE-UNBRANDED-MCKEESPORT-COAL-CO-291-DUMP-CAR/282736634305?hash=item41d46aa9c1:g:BbUAAOSwuaFZeous

Not counting cutting away 3/4 inch from center to shorten the car/frame/body.

110 scratch built add-ons. So Far!!!
to name only a few, Kadee scale trucks/code 88 wheels, couplers.
Complete under-side car brake details, complete-
custom dump-air parts under side and car ends.
All custom wire steps/grab irons etc.
Double air hose connections on car ends, cut -Levers, and
side locking devise on car ends. Including one side-end full air
controls for dumping. Custom Brake Wheel stand.

Used a bunch of Plastruck/Evergreen kit bashing parts u-channels L-channels
I-beam & rail channels etc.etc.

wanted both cars to dump-tilt-operate, and they do.

[PWVJer]

link
Opps, and this is the second car:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/HO-Scale-Lionel-Gondola-Train-Car-W-Lever-To-Dump-Load-In-Excellent-Condition/162730969136?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

just click on the sold-image for close-up pics.

114 things cutting/adding so far, now completed on this model, has better bones than the
Life Like car.

[jayrod]

That model looks like it was somewhat based on a Difco. Difco used big cylinders under the body to tilt it. They were notorious for air usage. Looking at the La Rue image of X-227 in the High & Dry book, it is definitely a Clark. The Clarks were built to balance the load along the centerline and used small cylinders on the car ends to tilt instead of the big pots underneath shoving the car side up, thus a lot less air to dump. With a string of Difcos, you'd sometimes need the engine in run 8 just to keep the brake pipe charged when dumping.
_________________
Eric Schlentner
Aka, jayrod

[jayrod]

Railway Track & Structures Cyclopedia Vol. 1 (1921), pages 669-671:

https://books.google.com/books?id=pMk7AAAAMAAJ&dq=clark+side+dump+car&source=gbs_navlinks_s

To add to the above, also built by Cambria.
_________________
Eric Schlentner
Aka, jayrod

[PWVJer]

well,
close exam the D.M. images, they do indeed match the
La Rue images from late 1963. About 99% sure these two X226-X227 were
Clark-30yd. G series. Maybe? purchased new from this PGH. Car Co.

The D.M. images match fairly close to the Work Train reports
Oct. Nov. 1956. Delay-Time reports show, sometimes, turning/position these cars.

As for X131 and X225, ???????

[jayrod]

Clark, as a stand-alone company lasted until 1929 as far as I can tell. It's likely the assets, mostly designs and patents, were bought by someone else. There's not much info on Clark Car Co. readily available and I'm not yet curious enough to start mining the web for more info. If I happen to run into some stuff, I'll post it.
_________________
Eric Schlentner
Aka, jayrod