Re: Need some help with DRG Class 1 cars

Some of your questions may be because of railroad terminology… Definitions were a significant issue for railroads, as interchange started, and railroads were billing each other for repairs. As a result the MCB published the Car Builder’s Dictionary… So the accounting department knew what they were paying for…

For example, car length can be measured inside a box car or at the end of a flat car’s deck (significant for shippers), or over the end beams (generally the most common) or length in train (over the couplers/drawbars… On a wooden passenger car (an into the steel car era), the end beam is under the end wall, and so a length does not include the platforms… on a Billmeyer & Smalls wood sprung draft gear, it appears that the published dimensions are the true end beam, not the false or sprung end beam… and none over the cast drawhead…

So for the D&RG 4-wheel cars those dimensions are… (my conjecture, based on research, Bob Hartford’s drawings, builder’s photos, the patent for the drawgear, and some field work, and I am interested in your photo interpretation)

No 501, “Lumber car”, (Sloan’s class 2 14’ flat/gondola) 15’ long? 16 ½ per B&S (17’ long over draft gear?) 10’ wheel base
Possibly a demonstration car or gift from Billmeyer & Smalls
From factory came with removable side boards as a gondola
20” wheels

No 1-90, flat car, (Sloan’s class 1 flat) 12” long, 12 ½” per B&S, (14’ long over draft gear) 7’ wheel base

No 1001-1010, Box car, (Sloan’s class 1) 12” long, 12 ½” per B&S (14’ long over draft gear)

The term “lumber car” for the longer flat car comes from a newspaper article quoting B&S standard dimensions (it also includes 8 wheel cars… I have included it below). As far as I can tell B&S did not mention wheel base on these cars… so what we are getting is the interpretation of those modelers/draftsmen who have drawn the cars. Similarly, when looking at a highly restored car… (Read Fritz’s comments about the car not being road worthy…. ) Similarly, looking at the car at CSRM, remember that the running gear is a conjecture by the CSRM restoration team… they may have gotten it right, but may have made decisions to use parts on hand… in either case the restoration team has “interpreted” mechanical systems… (these are not criticism of the draftsmen or the restoration teams… at some point they had to make a decision… modeler’s have the same issue, at some point you are going to cut a piece of strip wood)

It is important to remember that the B&S designed their first 8-wheel cars in consultation with and at the request of the D&RG… because there were two styles of 4 wheel flat cars, Sloan’s class system makes the first 8-wheel box cars class 2, while the matching flats are class 3…. The cabooses have similar issues… for comparison I have included an B&S ad illustration for a B&S built 4 wheel caboose… As far as we can tell it isn't a D&RG... but with the sharing of information between B&S and D&RG it may help...


The differentiation between coupler and draw bar come from the railroad industry particularly from the various editions of The Car Builder’s Dictionary. The differentiation between link and pin drawbars and automatic couplers became increasingly important in the 19th century… Railroads were expected to report annually in many states, and those reports included whether cars had air brakes and and type of draft gear for passenger cars… and particularly after the 1893 railway safety act.

In the first (1879) edition, Coupler was “that which couples…” while Draw-Bar was “an open mouthed bar at the end of a car to which coupling links are attached and from which the car is drawn….”

By the 1888 edition, Coupler is “That which couples in relation to cars the term usually designates the appliances for coupling or connecting cars together, and usually means some form of automatic coupler…: While Drawbar is still “open mouthed,,, ”

In the 1906 edition The description for coupler is the same… the definition of Drawbar “1. Link and Pin… ….The word drawbar is used indiscriminately to designate both the old link and pin drawbar and the modern automatic coupler. There has been an effort to confine the name drawbar to the old link and pin type.” (it goes on to scold the MCB standards which use the term drawbar for height of the MCB automatic coupler….)

All three editions (there were other editions, some new, some reprinted with different ads) included a definition for “Automatic Car Coupler” or “Automatic freight car coupler” which includes a description of Janney and other “vertical plane couplers”

In general, a miller hook was considered a coupler… the SAM automatic Link and Pin was a coupler under the rules of the Railway Safety Appliance act… (until a c 1913 accident on the SPng after which it was not considered a coupler, because it wasn’t automatic when coupled to a miller or other types…

There is a list of digitized Car Builder’s dictionaries at pacificng.com/template.php?page=/ref/mcbassoc/index.htm




Randy Hees

Director, Nevada State Railroad Museum, Boulder City, retired
PacificNG.org - a curated Wiki on Pacific Slope Narrow Gauge www.pacificng.com
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