Nostalgia & History > F Unit Friday: GN #364C

I recently acquired several GN slides from John Benson, and here's the first, of GN F7A #364C and rebuilt F7B #350B at Tacoma, WA in April 1965.  This is most likely departing southbound Seattle-Portland train #460, which has at least 9 cars, the last of which is a NP lightweight. The GN storage mail appears to be from the #239-#241 series, and I belive it is #239.  The first 3 coaches/chairs are from the #950-#979 series built by B&S in 1914 as #4500-#4529.  The first is one of several from this series which were streamlined and switched from a coach to a chair configuration, the next 2 are of the modified variety with A/C installed in the mid-1930's, no way to tell without knowing the car number if these are coaches or chairs.  The #364C was built in October 1950 and was later BN #9728.  BN sold the engine to Precision National in November 1974.  The #350B was built in November 1947, originally as a F3B, and was rebuilt after a wreck as a F7B with the same number, outshopped on June 22nd, 1952.  The #350B was later BN #9701, and was sold in March 1974 to Simon & Sons.  I don't know who the photographer was, and this is a duplicate Kodachrome slide, which is stamped June 1978.

Just a note: I have previously posted 2 slides which I also acquired from John Benson: UP E8A #937 at Cajon, CA, and Santa Fe motorcar #M190 in Clovis, NM.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/04/15 02:24 by Rainier_Rails.

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What a great shot. Thanks especially for the followup data on the units and cars, that adds a lot to the image.  Thank very much for posting.

It appears there's another car behind the NP lightweight that looks to be a heavyweight, possibly NP
also.  

I second the post on the information provided.  It really enhances the shot.  Thanks for posting.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

Yes, thanks for posting the photo and the information which always adds so much to a photo.

Could you explain "changed from a coach to a chair configuration"?

Always interesting to see pre-merger Tacoma. Great info about the equipment.
t4p

czephyr17 Wrote:
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> Yes, thanks for posting the photo and the
> information which always adds so much to a photo.
>
> Could you explain "changed from a coach to a chair
> configuration"?

Some railroads used "coach"  to describe non-reclining seats, while "chair car" referred to a reclining seat.

Thanks to everyone for the replies!

ntharalson Wrote:
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> It appears there's another car behind the NP lightweight that looks to be a heavyweight, possibly NP also.  

Zooming in, this car is on the adjacent track, and could be either laying over, or is the last car of a train facing north, either a northbound Portland-Seattle train or a train that will turn east at Auburn to go over Stampede Pass.

czephyr17 Wrote:
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> Could you explain "changed from a coach to a chair configuration"?

ATSF3751 Wrote:
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> Some railroads used "coach"  to describe non-reclining seats, while "chair car" referred to a reclining seat.

When these 30 cars were built by Barney & Smith in 1914 as #4500-#4529, all were coaches with the then-typical stiff-backed, walkover seats.  By 1930, these cars had been renumbered to #950-#979, with 10 cars (#950-#959) having 84 walkover seats, and 20 cars (#960-#979) having 85 walkover seats.  By 1952, all 30 cars were still on the roster, and a number of changes had been made, including installation of A/C, several cars were still coaches, but with fewer seats, and several cars had been changed to chairs.  By 1966, several cars had been rebuilt with fully streamlined roofs and changed to chairs.  Here's a breakdown of these cars in 1952, 1966, and 1968:

In 1952:

16 cars (#950-#963 and #965-#966) were still coaches, with seating reduced to 78 and a women's lounge added.  Ice-activated A/C was installed in 1935 (#950-#961) and 1936 (#962-#963 and #965-#966).  #961 had also been switched to roller bearing axles.  The lounges were probably also added in 1935-1936.  These cars had the A/C duct mounted on the roof along the contour of the clerestory, with the duct length about two thirds of the carbody length.

2 cars (#964 and #973) had been switched to chairs, with 68 seats.  Remodeling took place in 1937, and at that time ice-activated A/C was installed, along with new trucks with Timken roller bearing axles.  New streamline-style windows with Adlake aluminum sashes had also been installed, but at an unknown date, as well as a luggage rack at the women's end.

1 car (#977) was still a coach, with 84 seats.  Remodeling took place in 1937, and at that time ice-activated A/C was installed, along with new trucks with roller bearing axles.

6 cars (#967-#972) were still coaches, with seating reduced to 76, a conductor's desk at the women's end, and a news agent at the men's end.  Remodeling took place in 1937, and at that time ice-activated A/C was installed, along with new trucks with roller-bearing axles.  A roof-mounted Mars light had also been installed at the men's end at an unknown date.

3 cars (#974-#976) had been switched to chairs, with 44 seats, and a kitchen-dinette added, with 2 4-seat tables and 2 2-seat tables.  Remodeling took place in 1937, and at that time ice-activated A/C was installed, along with new trucks with roller-bearing axles.  A partition was installed between the chair and dinette sections, and one of the doors in the vestibule at the kitchen end had been replaced by a locker.  Also, the installation of a refrigerator in the kitchen meant that the door from the hallway to this vestibule was not centered, but located directly over the trap for the remaining entry door.

2 cars (#978-#979) were still coaches, with 83 seats.  These 2 cars had partitions installed between the women's and men's ends; the women's section had 56 seats and the men's (smoker) section had 27 seats.  Remodeling took place in 1940, and at that time ice-activated A/C was installed, along with new trucks with roller bearing axles.  These 2 cars also had luggage racks installed, likely in 1940.

In 1966:

By 1966, 7 cars (#950, #967-#968, and #970-#973) had been retired.

9 cars (#951-#953, #957-#958, #960, #962-#963, and #965) were still coaches with 78 seats, but all 9 cars had been switched to roller bearing axles.

2 cars (#954 and #961) had been streamlined and changed to chairs, with 62 seats.  A luggage rack was installed at the men's end, new Adlake windows, and roller bearing axles.  The roof contour, while streamlined, was still at the original roof height of 14'3".

2 cars (#955-#956) had been streamlined and changed to chairs, with 62 seats.  A luggage rack was installed at the men's end, new Adlake windows, and roller bearing axles.  Unlike the #954 and #961, these 2 cars had streamlined roofs with a lowered height of 13'8½".

2 cars (#959 and #966) had been streamlined and changed to chairs, with 62 seats.  A luggage rack was installed at the men's end, new Adlake windows, and Timken roller bearing axles.  These 2 cars had streamlined roofs with a lowered height of 13'9½", and the A/C was redone in 1953, but was still of the ice-activated type.

#964 does not appear to have had any additional changes made since 1952.

#969 does not appear to have had any additional changes made since 1952.

#974-#976 had new Adlake windows installed, and the vestibule doors on #974-#975 had been changed to a streamline-style.

#977 does not appear to have had any additional changes made since 1952.

#978 had been switched to a chair in 1961, with 66 seats.  The women's section had 44 seats, and the men's (smoker) section had 22 seats.

#979 does not appear to have had any additional changes made since 1952.

In 1968:

Only 6 cars were still on the roster: #954, #956, #959, #961, #964, and #966.