3ft-7inchers

Well the good news is the CATS is running and the cars are full of happy riders. It was hot and there was some rain but not a lot. The crews were rebuilding a couple of high side gondolas (actually pipe gondolas) for an exhibit of a pipe train that we hope to put together in a year or so. I noticed that the trucks on the gondola were different than the normal 3'-7''s. I knew that there were two types of truck bolsters used on the trucks. One has a cast in socket that holds a piece of wood as a rub plate against the car bolster and the other has the more conventionas roller assembly. On the gondolas they appearently have used both but the distance from the axle center to the car bolster needs to be about 1 1/2" greater for the roller type so the to use the trucks interchangeably they modified the wood block car trucks with a one and a half inch shim over the bearing boxes to raise the bolster the one and a half inches. They also have a straight bottom bar rather than the drop so the spring assemblly and bolster are just raised. No other modifications seem to have been done. So now we have another variable to the gondolas and the flat cars made from gondolas. Two different trucks. I didn't get a chance to survey all the cars to be sure they are consistant but the ones I looked at were. Now the inventory will have to include the stake count, bolster type (std ga or narrow gage or strap) the type of coupler pocket and type of stake pocket. Some varience. Maybe an ambitious manufacturer should come up with a retro kit with all the variations.
Frank