Because
the side sills bear much stress in addition to the center sill, these
gondolas sit lower on their trucks than their Deep Rib compatriots.
The fixed e nds
allow the brake wheel to be mounted in the traditional location
of the "B" end of the car. The shallow rib chip gons are a bit over
60' long and have a capacity of 7452 cubic feet. This brings
up the issue of the size of chip gons in general. Like the Twin Tub
Coal Gons, these cars are designed to carry 100 tons of payload only
100 tons of wood chips take up much more spac e
than 100 tons of coal. As a result, it is common
for chip gons to be labeled "load wood chips only" to avoid any confusion
that would seriously damage an expensive piece of equipment. Since
chip gons often move in groups, deLuxe produces each road name in
several road numbers. Major railroads are traditionally released in
singles and 6 packs, and smaller roads and private owners are released
in singles and 3 packs. When appropriate for the prototype, lettering
details such as consolidated stencils (the twin black and white boxes,)
and ACI tags (the 4 color "bar codes") are printed on the models.
The car is a single piece casting (no need to model an open door here!)
with the characteristic deep notched ends in place. The interior of
the car is equipped with ever so tiny load supports so that your cast
re sin
load (made for deluxe by Dick Billings at Fine N Scale Products) won't
slip down inside the car. Many of the cars are painted with the white
"Excessive Height" marker on both ends. They feature a low mounted
brakewheel on the "B" end of the car. |
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