CR BT Dispr Wrote:
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> Randy Hees Wrote:
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> -----
> > Thoughts… You have a lot of questions... The
> term “Class 1” is Sloan’s…
> Sorry, there are many more questions than what I
> posted. I only posted the most pressing. I use the
> Sloan class designations since it seems to be the
> easiest method of dividing up the different types.
> Maybe that's fallen out of favor?
>
> > The earliest cabooses were probably not built by
> Billmeyer and Smalls, but instead are the Jackson
> & Sharp built 4 wheel passenger cars reconfigured.
>
> Understood. My questions about the cabeese are
> geared toward the DRG-built series (#5 and up).
>
> > Draw gear height was less important with link
> and pin draw heads (couplers are an automatic
> device)… and there was a great variation on
> > drawhead/coupler height…
> Semantics I suppose, and maybe there are regional
> dialects at work here, but to me anything that
> fastens like things together is a coupler, whether
> it's link and pin, Miller, drop hook, or whatever
> and an 'automatic coupler' is just a coupler that
> has an automatic function (and having kicked,
> beaten, pried, slammed and sworn at them way too
> many times in all kinds of circumstances I'd argue
> the full validity of the 'automatic' claim).
> Still, I hadn't paid close enough attention to the
> dates involved, so it seems the lower heights on
> the four-wheel equipment wouldn't have been much
> of a problem as it appears they were out of
> regular service around the time they went to 26"
> as standard. So only the 4 (probably converted)
> J&S 'calaboose' cars would have had the small
> wheels and lower height - must have been pretty
> stretched covering the whole operation for a
> couple years with only four. Sorry for wasting
> time on that.
>
> > Note the original order included 10’ cars
> (12’ with draft gear) with 7’ wheel bases and
> a single 15’ long “Lumber Car”… 17’
> with draft
> > gear with a wheel base of 10’.
> I've never seen anything on 10/12 foot cars - is
> that something that's been omitted/overlooked or
> recently come to light? And again, I am
> questioning the stated overall dimensions of the
> 1-90 longer flats. Do you have another source that
> indicates the 17' is actually over draft gear and
> not over sills? I have not found anything specific
> enough to differentiate. Only thing left to do is
> 3 dimensional scaling of the photo I suppose. My
> perspective markup is attached and appears to show
> the carbody is 17' long over the side sill. The B
> end sill end is the red dotted line and the long
> scale above the deck is scaled to that point.
> Rotating the car out to that plane should bring
> the A end right about to the 0 end of the scale
> with no room for drawheads in the 17'. The
> attachment is cropped - the perspective lines are
> fully run to fixed vanishing points at each side.
>
>
> > The earliest D&RG caboose drawings date to the
> 1882,
> Is that just the folio or are there more complete
> drawings similar to the 1885 drawings?
>
> > You can check the patent… Try Google Patents,
> patent no. 158892. … Also look for Ron
> Rudnic’s books
> Thanks very much for the patent number, it
> answered a couple of questions. I will look more
> for Rudnic's books. Question 4 is really about
> drawings of the coupler itself as the coupler used
> on the Hartford model is incorrect.
>
> > There are pictures on Towle Brothers lumber
> showing the flat car brake staff bracket…. It
> is an inverted U with the shaft in the middle,
> Thanks for the Towle reference. I agree on the
> brackets. Light and shadows on the B&S flats'
> builders pics appear to confirm. I hadn't noticed
> but the same arrangement is also (interestingly)
> on a flat in the J&S No.3 Smoking Car pic. And
> they are only about 7 inches tall in the car #1
> pic.
>

Jackson photograph in Buena Vista, 1880 showing what I think is a cupelless D&RG caboose in the joint DSP&P / D&RG yard. Notice the 1871 width of 7' of the car, offset end door (like the first smokers 3 and 4) and modified with a roof walk.