Eastern Railroad Discussion > From The Archive's!!!!!!!

Was going through my collection of Photo's and I came across
a folder of Bethlehem Steel Freight Car Builder's photo's going
back a few years. So I thought I would scan a few of them and
share them here. This first one is a Strange one, I have no other
info on this car, Other than that it was built in November 1968.
I wonder how many of these unique car's were built for the C&O???
Anyone know??? Thanks


Tony K, CRsmurf

---

Thats one odd looking car.

Here is another Photo from the Bethlehem Steel Freight Car
Archives. Bethgon Coalporter Demonstrator.


Tony K, CRsmurf

---

Here is another, This one is a Aluminum Bethgon Coalporter.
I wonder between Bethlehem Steel, and Johnstown America Corp.
If they have built 1 Million of these Cars yet??? They got to
be Close!!!


Tony K, CRsmurf

---

Here is the final one, It is an Aluminum Quick Dump Hopper
Demonstrator Car. I have no idea how many of these that
Bethlehem Steel made.


Tony K, CRsmurf

---

That first one (C&O) looks like it has three sets of trucks.
I can't see another car behind it that would explain it.
I've never seen a hopper car with three sets of trucks before.

What's even more interesting about the photo is how the center truck takes the curves without the car being articulated. It's a strange one all right especially from the C&O.

Jim

Information from Oct. 1968 Official Equipment Register
C&O
#300000 length 42', width 10'5" capacity 14000lb.
300001 to 400005 lg. 44'4", width 10'5" cap. 14000lb.
300006 lg. 43'6", width 10'7" cap. 14000lb.
300010 lg. 44'11" width 10'7" cap.16000lb.
next numbers listed 300030 to 300444 lg drops to36'6" width 10'9"" cap. 10000lb.
Note#4-Twin hoppers, self clearing, dumping between rails and tight ends

C&O car numbers should be 300001 to 300005 not to 400005. duh. bobj

Note C&O #300011 has a cap of 24000lb which is almost double the othe 300000 car # cap. Sorry I do not have a later equipment register to check on how many cars were built. Your photo car has a built date 11-68 which outdates my book.

Tony-these are pretty cool-got any more?RAD

This response from Dick Dawson, who has worked in various engineering capacities at New York Central, Berwick Forge & Fabricating and, now, TTX:

"This was a prototype car that so far as I know was the first application of the ASF articulated connector. I'm not sure what benefits it offered to an open-top hopper car, but in any event it was never built in production quantities. It was probably a project of the C&O research department, with a total lack of interest from the mechanical or operating departments. It ended up at TTCI in Pueblo where I saw it not too many years ago. It may still be there."

"To my knowledge, the ASF articulated connector was next used on the ATSF Six-Pack (later Ten-Pack) articulated TOFC car where it was very successful, leading to many thousands of what later came to be called Spine cars (I originated the term "Spine Car", incidentally) and double-stack cars."