Revisiting the Evans Breadbox Trough Coil Coaches

 Greetings All,

Revisiting the Evans Breadbox Trough Coil Coaches

I recently took a close look at my 1:87 scale Evans steel coil coaches fleet. A few of the cars weren't getting much if any layout time for a couple of reasons and were in need of some cosmetic help. Lets take a look at the prototype and project.

Prototype Information

In 1965 the Evans Products Company began to build what became known as the breadbox trough coil coach after five years of study with the New York Central as detailed in the July 1966 NYC Headlight Magazine. Key features of the car were its 52' long continuous trough that allowed for heavier loads and coil covers that are attached to the car and can be opened and closed by one person. 

A total of sixty of these unique cars were built with NYC Subsidiary Pittsburgh & Lake Erie, a big time steel hauler, signing up for fifty of the 125 ton capacity cars that started to arrive in the summer of 1966 while the Bessemer & Lake Erie purchased the other ten. The coil covers did have their early benefits but rough handling at the mills subsequently rendered the covers unworkable. In 1973 the P&LE sent the cars back to Evans and had the covers removed. 

After the changes at the top the cars were used to transport hot steel coils which did not need protection. The P&LE and B&LE used them into the 1990s with the remaining cars being sold the the Hartford & Slocum RR. Most remained in service into the 2000s.

Model Information

The P&LE and B&LE Evans Coil Coaches have been offered over the years by Lionel, AHM and Bachmann and I have cars from each of the manufacturers in my fleet. Interestingly the road numbers regardless manufacturer were basically the same. The clam shell style covers on my models imitate the prototype as they are difficult to operate.

KP&W Rebuilds

It is a well established 1:87 scale fact that the Kings Port & Western RR purchased a good number of the Evans coil coaches when they became available and started a rebuilding program to make the hoods operate reliably. 

The KP&W serves the large Kings Port Steel complex in Kings Port, NY and with the cooperation of the mill workers and their customers the clamshell coil coaches provide the bulk of their steel hauling cars earning revenue for all concerned.

Photo courtesy of Ralph Vossberg

In August 2014 I sent several of my coil coaches to the KP&W for rebuilding including these two cars that are part of my lease fleet. I believe this was the first of our virtual interchanges.

The KP&W shops did such a good job these cars are still in service ten years later!

The KP&W Shops were also contracted to rebuild several P&LE  and B&LE cars that are in assigned PCCM Kings Port Steel service between the NYCTL & KPD. 

Un Rebuilt Coil Coaches

Other than five coil coaches in PCCM service two coil coaches in the fleet were unable to be rebuilt due to missing clamshell covers like the below pair. BTW, the PC never had this car which also contributed to its lack of layout time.

The CB&Q fantasy scheme coil coach was another car that languished in the box while the DT&I fantasy scheme car does get layout time. 

These three coil coaches were sent to the Patti-O Paint Shop for new paint and lettering.

Elgin, Joliet & Eastern RR Coil Cars 

The EJ&E was a major steel hauler serving US Steel in South Chicago. After looking at photos of their numerous coil steel hauling cars I decided to paint and letter the three coil coaches in a freelanced EJ&E scheme using an existing set of EJ&E decals.

EJ&E 6746 is ready for reassembly.

EJ&E 6743 is ready to join the 6741 and 6763 for a return to revenue service.

The three cars are now in revenue service and headed to the Bedford Park Ford Plant.

Steel coils made by PC Ralph look great in the open gondolas!!!

The steel coils are delivered to the Ford Plant.

Final Thoughts and Comments

While I attempt to model prototypically accurate rolling stock most times I am totally fine with choosing the EJ&E for the three cars in this project. I already had the decals on hand and this railroad was a steel hauler and the gondolas don't standout to me as wrong like the PC and CB&Q cars did. 

The fantasy scheme DT&I coil coach survived the project unscathed. The DT&I was Henry Ford's RR and it does serve the Ford Plant on my layout so I left it alone as a shoutout to the Ford Motor

Company. 

A pair of empty EJ&E coil coaches head back to South Chicago in this good sized freight train.

Additional Information

New York Central Headlight 07/1966

Lionel Freight Car Friday, Evans Breadbox Coil Cars.

NYCTL Freight Car Spotlight 2-2022, Evans Breadbox Coil Cars.

Bachmann Clam Shell Coil Gondolas, Trains.com

Hartford & Slocum RR

H&S 42292 

H&S 42268 

August 2014 Blog Post

Thanks for reading!!!

See you soon!!!

Penn Central, ex New Haven RR Alco FA-FB-FB-FA Project Completed (Finally!)

 Greetings All,

Penn Central / Ex New Haven Alco FA-FB-FB-FA Project 

is Finally Completed

A project that I started three years ago to add a Penn Central, ex New Haven, Alco FA-FB-FB-FA locomotive consist to my fleet has finally been completed. The project was started back in August, 2021 and was reported in three parts starting here. 

This Walthers Alco FB1 undecorated shell has been sitting in the box waiting for a power chassis and a trip to the Patti O Paint Shop for a few years now to complete the PC, ex NH, Alco FA-FB-FB-FA project. Almost three years later I finally pulled a power chassis from another Walthers FB locomotive for use under this shell and moved this stalled project forward.

Ex New Haven FB1 0462, now Penn Central 3392 is just out of the paint shop. In 1970 new PC President Moore ordered all predecessor heralds removed to achieve unity and common goals. If you look closely you'll see the patch out paint of the NH herald.

Prototype Info

From the Penn Central RR Historical Society

Volume 22, Number 1 Article by Robert Holzweiss

Penn Central Alco FB1 #3392, formerly New Haven 0462, was conveyed to the PC upon the inclusion of the New Haven RR on January 01, 1969. NH 0462 was built in October 1947 and received its PC numbers on July 10, 1969. The 3392 was set aside on December 14, 1970, and retired on April 26, 1971.

The PC 3392, ex NH 0462, was rebuilt by Alco in 1959 and returned to the New Haven during 1960 with a 1600 HP Alco model 251 prime mover and painted in the simplified Socony red scheme. The rebuilt units could now M.U. with the NH RS3s and their 1956 era road switchers but not the un-rebuilt Alco FAs, FL9s, or the U25Bs and C425s purchased in the mid 1960s.

Disposition

The PC 3392 was sold to GE on sales order 9-00-5361 dated October 22, 1969 as trade in credit for U33Bs 2956-2970. The 3392 was later cannibalized by GE and scrapped.

A Rare Consist 

The only 1:1 prototypically pure Alco FA-FB-FB-FA lash up in the late 1960s and very early 1970 belonged to the Penn Central and drew railfans from all over to their stomping grounds in the Boston, Mass area. 

The FA-FB-FB-FA  consist normally assigned to power trains BL-1 / LB-2 between Boston and Lowell Mass has come down to Terminal Yard with a train from Oak Point. The Alcos await clearance for their train to depart for Cedar Hill Yard and eventual return to Boston.

Something didn't look right with the 3392 in the above photo so a trip back to the paint shop corrected that with the painting of the ladders. Much better!

Railfan scanners have picked up news that today's HN-2 is being powered by the ex NH Alcos. Railroaders and railfans alike gather to catch the ex NH Alco A-B-B-A set coming down from Oak Island towards Terminal Yard. 

The railfans include the Kings Port Railway Society who have arrived in their well known VW caboose.

The four locomotive set provides plenty of power to get up the slide.

The Alco A-B-B-A set is easily photographed from the public street thanks to engine hostler Wet Willie placing the engines close to the road and moving the power set from track one. Alright Willie!!!

But Wait There's More!!

As luck would have it right after I put the 3392 into service with the borrowed FB powered chassis I came across an FB1 for a very, very reasonable price along with two other undecorated locomotives for future projects.

Looks new to me!!!

Now both FB1s are happy and powered.

The gang is back together!!!

On another day Alco Joe gets called for Train EC-1 the daily freight transfer from Terminal Yard to North Side Yard and Wet Willie has come thru by having the ALCOs power the train as the engines layover before leaving.

Alco Joe checks in with the EBRR trainmen as Train EC-2 gets ready to depart North Side Yard caboose light.

In case you forgot the Empire Belt RR also has an Alco FA-FB-FB-FA power set that has been pulled from storage for use today which is a real treat for railfans like the KPRS guys.

Th FA-FB-FB-FAs in action

Final Thoughts and Comments

The Walthers FA-FB models over the years have had their issues with zinc rot or zinc pest and care should be taken when purchasing any of these models. The key spotting feature is a bulging shell which means the power chassis is doomed.

On the plus side these models have been in the market for over 20 years now so if you find one in nice shape chances are good that it will not have zinc rot issues.

The Walthers and Frateschi models used for this project are rugged with few if any details to break off. They are good running locomotives and their weight makes them good haulers. The two Walthers and two Frateschi Alcos that make up the A-B-B-A consist M.U. together very well and draw very little amperage. 

Thanks for reading and watching!!!

See you soon!!!

Paint Shop Report / Covered Hoppers, Flatcars, and Boxcar

Greetings All,

Paint Shop Report

Covered Hoppers, Flatcars, and Boxcar

From time to time I review the freight cars in my ever expanding fleet to find cars that very rarely make it to the layout to try and better utilize them. If necessary I'll repaint and re-letter them to better fit within the scope of the layout and its operations. Here are a few of the recent repaint and re-lettering projects.

CB&Q Two Bay Covered Hoppers

Two CB&Q two bay covered hoppers that have in my fleet for about twenty years were the first cars to enter the Patti O Paint Shop. The two cars had been upgraded with knuckle couplers and metal wheelsets many years ago but languished in the box. 

Right or wrong I just couldn't picture these tiny covered hoppers traveling from the mid-west to my layout in the northeast carrying cement.

Using the above photo of the PC H33 876318 covered hopper in the Penn Central Equipment Color Guide I sought to make the CB&Q cars into close enough PC cars using decals from Highball Graphics.

The Penn Central H-33 Fleet

PC series 876170-876368, ex PRR 255850-256049 were small 1958 cubic foot covered hoppers built at Altoona, PA. The cars featured the early square hatch design prevalent with early covered hoppers and were generally used in cement service.

The decals shown below were purchased for an eight car project back in December 2017 (click here to see that project) but were defective and replaced by Highball. I held onto them as model railroaders don't like throwing things away! I'm using a bottle of Micro-Mark Liquid Decal Film to try and save them for use in this project.

The newly painted and lettered close enough H-33 covered hoppers are ready for reassembly.

 A close up of the 876344 shows I still had some issues with the decals. The last "N" in Penn and the "N" in Central both split apart during the lettering process. The cubic foot capacity below the "AL" also came apart.

The 876223 fared better with just the cubic foot capacity coming apart. From three feet away these minor blemishes aer not visible.

Here they are ready for revenue service and some weathering. Note  two different sets of Penn Central lettering were used for this close enough project. 

PC 876223 and 876344 made their virtual ops debut in PCCM 107 where they were interchanged at North Side Yard with the LIRR for movement to a Long Island cement plant.

Four Flatcars

Various Road Names

The four Athearn BB flatcars in this project date back twenty or so years when they received metal pipe loads, Kadee couplers and metal wheelsets. The cars are RI, ATSF, UP and NYC one side only. To tone down the circus look of the red ATSF and yellow UP cars I tried weathering them with an over spray of rattle can flat black and rust colored primer which didn't turn out well. 

The Rock Island Car is the best looking of the four and has received a temporary reprieve.

The one side only NYC car with pipe load is ready for repainting.

The ATSF and UP cars are also ready. The pipe load on the UP car was loose and easily removed.

The newly painted UP flatcar and the EJ&E decals from K-4 purchaded for this project.

Prototype Info

The Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway

The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway (reporting mark EJE) was a Class II railroad, making a roughly circular path between Waukegan, Illinois and Gary, Indiana. The railroad served as a link between Class I railroads traveling to and from Chicago, although it operated almost entirely within the city's suburbs, only entering Chicago where it served the U.S. Steel South Works on the shores of Lake Michigan. Nicknames for the railroad included "The J" and "The Chicago Outer Belt Line". At the end of 1970, the EJ&E operated 164 miles of track and carried 848 million ton-miles of revenue freight in that year alone.

"19970419 41 EJ&E Kirk Yard, Gary, IN" by davidwilson1949 is licensed under CC BY 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/?ref=openverse.
The EJ&E is a major steel hauler which is perfect for this project.

"Covered Steel Coil Car, EJ&E" by Gary Lee Todd, Ph.D. is marked with CC0 1.0. To view the terms, visit https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/?ref=openverse.

Three New EJ&E Flatcars Now In Revenue Service

The newly painted and lettered EJ&E 40' flatcars are now in service.

EJ&E 6630 is slightly different from the 6764 above.

EJ&E 6248 is slightly different from the above two EJ&E cars.

Rock Island 90090 survived the project unscathed!!

New car cards and waybills have been prepared for all four cars which I plan to run mostly as a four car block. The first loading that will bring them onto the layout is at American Steel in Joliet, Illinois that was served by both the EJ&E and Rock Island further cementing the RI flatcar continuing on as is. 

A TH&B Boxcar Joins The Roster and a

Western Pacific Bulk Sugar Boxcar Exits the Roster

This Athearn BB WP bulk sugar boxcar is another car that just didn't get on the layout much if at all based mainly on looks. For whatever reason I just didn't care for the tired looking paint and lettering but did like the commodity which is one that has three on layout consignees and offers off layout interchange with the LIRR.

Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo 

Prototype Info

In searching for decals to spruce up the WP boxcar I came across a set of TH&B boxcar decals from K4 Decals. The TH&B was jointly owned by the New York Central(73%) and Canadian Pacific(27%) and after February 1st, 1968 the PC and CP. The TH&B was based in Hamilton and interestingly never built out to Toronto or Buffalo instead relying on trackage rights of their owners to reach the namesake cities.

"9/4/78, CPRail RS3 8433" by OHFalcon72 is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/?ref=openverse.

The TH&B boxcars featured a yellow body with black doors, roof and ends that began to appear in 1952. The colors were chosen in honor of the Hamilton Tiger Cats football team. 

"Yellow TH and B train car in St Jacobs, Ontario" by User:Saforrest is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/?ref=openverse.
The former WP boxcar is just out of the paint shop in TH&B colors.  This is certainly a much brighter car!

THB 3284 is now ready for revenue service. The lettering near the door states "To be used only for newsprint, paper, flour, sugar or high class merchandise". Perfect for my needs!! BTW the NYCTL only deals with high class merchandise!!

The 3284 has arrived on the layout loaded with bulk sugar and poses for a roster shot in Terminal Yard prior to its next car movement. As noted above this commodity has three on layout consignees, Hostess in Bedford NY and Brach's at the Terminal Warehouse & Cold Storage Complex will receive bulk sugar. Ralph's Grocery Warehouse in Empire City will will receive five pound bags of sugar for retail sales. Off layout the car will travel to the A&P in Brooklyn, NY via the LIRR also with five pound bags of sugar for retail sales. 

TH&B 3284 delivers bulk sugar from Dominion Sugar in Wallaceburg, Ontario to the Hostess Plant in Bedford NY. 

When made empty at Hostess the 3284 will be picked up by the Bedford Turn for movement to Terminal Yard and forwarding back to the TH&B at Hamilton, Ontario.

Once back in Terminal Yard the 3284 can be included in a train heading to Selkirk or the blue car card can be flipped to fulfill an empty car request from Superior Furniture in Empire City.

The TH&B 3284 will get moved to Superior Furniture for either a load of furniture for Montgomery Ward in the TW&CS complex.

Or a load of TV cabinets for RCA in Owen Sound, Ontario which would take it off layout and back towards its home rails.

Final Thoughts and Comments

With these projects now completed I've added six freight cars that better fit my layout and operations. This is in addition to the four Turtle Creek flatcars I repainted and lettered last month as MEC and BAR flatcars respectively.

The decals used for the above projects are from Highball (PC H33s) and K-4 (EJ&E and TH&B cars). 

The Patti-O Paint Shop continues to be busy with several more projects either recently completed or awaiting completion. Look for additional blog posts in the future detailing these projects.

Additional Resources and Links

Elgin Joliet & Eastern Railway Wikipedia

EJ&E Archive

TH&B Historical Society

TH&B Wikipedia

Thanks For Reading!!!