Western Railroad Discussion > 60 Years Old and Still Looking Great!

As I ventured into Salt Lake City yesterday (July 26, 2016) I noticed a very odd railcar on the MRORV-26 as it was leaving Roper.

Built in May of 1956, SPMW 2025 is one of 6 scale test cars currently working on the Union Pacific roster, and one of four coming from SP MOW heritage.  There are two variations of this car used by the Union Pacific, SPMW 2024, 2025, 5007 and 5090 were all home-built recycled flatcars which are generally loaded to 101000 lbs.  SSW 99203 and RGX 450 are much shorter, two axle cars that generally weighed in around 50,000-80,000 lbs.  Due to their tiny size, 99203 and 450 have to be placed at the rear of the train with a max speed of 30 mph on mainlines.  The SPMW ones being more sturdy, were allowed up to 40 on mainlines.  These 'Scale Test Cars' traveled to places that had Scales (also known as weigh bridges), used to weigh freight cars.  They were used to test and certify that the Scales were accurate, as some freight or lading was charged by weight (usually a bulk commodity), and perhaps also to check that the freight car plus load did not exceed the axle loading of its intended route.

Schon Norris
Salt Lake City, UT
Railroad Roll-By Podcast



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/16 10:37 by Scone_Empire.

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Nice catch Schon.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Fairly common sight for decades... The Mojave yard once had a scale like many others across the nation.

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA