Eastern Railroad Discussion > a C&O Oddity

anybody know the history on this? would like to know if it was allways black with yellow rails.looks like number 914206.

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photo #2

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I don't know this particular car's history, but it is a scale test car.

Though it has a brake hose, it is a pass-thru only as there are no brakes on the car. They figured that wear on the brake shoes would upset the calibration. The "safe" style door on the side allowed filling or removing weights to calibrate the car, then it would be sent out to various scales to test them. I know some railroads owned them, but here in Minnesota the only scale test car I ever saw was (and I believe still is) owned by the Minnesota Department of Weights and Measures - the same department that certifies meat scales and gasolene pumps. It is painted maroon with gold lettering (same colors as University of Minnesota football jerseys, and I'll bet thats more than a coincindence) and stored most of the time on the Minnesota Commercials rails in St. Paul. Because these cars do not have brakes, they are "rear end only", or at least they were in the days of cabooses. Not sure if that rule still applies.

on NS we have to make the scale test car NEXT to last car on the train so there is one car with brakes behind it

I saw a train once with one of those in the middle of a block of autoracks...oops...

Ain't that a really small tank car?

I have video of a scale test car and it's next to the last car.
just one boxcar behind it.

In response to the original question, yes, this car was probably always black. Its original C&O number would have been in the ST series ("ST-", followed probably by a single digit).

Look how old this thing is...poling pockets at the corners, and that push-down pin lifter!

gp74444 Wrote:
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> anybody know the history on this? would like to
> know if it was allways black with yellow
> rails.looks like number 914206.


looks like a scale test car, other than that no ideas of history.

Interesting comments about one car always behind the scale car. I believe that I have a slide somewhere (don't ask where) of a scale test car on an EB PC freight in Huntingdon PA on the PRR Mainline in ~1974 behind the caboose. Did the PRR/PC have a different set of rules when operating a scale test car in a train?

PRR K4 Wrote:
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> Interesting comments about one car always behind
> the scale car. I believe that I have a slide
> somewhere (don't ask where) of a scale test car on
> an EB PC freight in Huntingdon PA on the PRR
> Mainline in ~1974 behind the caboose. Did the
> PRR/PC have a different set of rules when
> operating a scale test car in a train?

Could be, but one thing is sure in railroading, the rules will state something and they will occasionally be "ignored" for the sake of efficiency. At times crews are faced with a situation that does not meet the letter of rule, but an official may say run it like it is. In so doing he takes the ramifications upon himself and relieves the crew of any untoward result that may occur. Of course crews occasionally take it upon themselves to make a "creative" interpretation. In the old days it was easier to get by with such for management's aim was to move the stuff, any way, any how, just don't get hurt. The same could be argued of today.

CShaveRR Wrote:
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> In response to the original question, yes, this
> car was probably always black. Its original
> C&O number would have been in the ST series
> ("ST-", followed probably by a single digit).
>
> Look how old this thing is...poling pockets at the
> corners, and that push-down pin lifter!

if not C&O, then i wonder whos number it is? wish i had taken a better look at it .

It IS C&O, and that 914000-series number is its current number.

The "ST-" number I was referring to would have been the number C&O had used for it until about 1983-1984, when they renumbered all non-revenue equipment (including cabooses) into the 900000 series (which has to be easier to keep track of than a wide variety of letter prefixes for various types of equipment!).

Here's the next one in numerical order at HO in Brosius, WV, on 6/21/03. Gerry

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GPutz Wrote:
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> Here's the next one in numerical order at HO in
> Brosius, WV, on 6/21/03. Gerry


I see that one has hand brakes. Wonder if it has air brakes.