Neat! [8D]
Here’s a sad look at what’s left of Columbus Castings, AKA Buckeye Steel Castings:
http://abandonedonline.net/locations/industry/buckeye-steel-castings/
They had a pretty rocky go of it the past few years. Supposedly, demolition is under way.
Regards, Ed
DODX 39918, the car in the photo that was supplied as an example, was delivered after 1986. There is no way that car ever had plain bearings in its trucks. And therefore, the bearings were never converted to roller bearings. They were always roller bearings.
Ed
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And I will bet that will be the only time I know the answer for a question about a prototype railroad!
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Glad I could help.
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-Kevin
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Handy CSX interchange refence:
https://www.csx.com/index.cfm/library/files/customers/safety-and-security/tank-cars/aar-rule-90/
Certain truck sideframes and wheels shown as specifically banned.
Ed
Ed,
Look at this photo.
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3630062
In the photo there is a stencil that says PM (then three letters washed out) below it says 7-86 (see upper left hand corner).
Its sister car 39919 has dates going back earlier than that. They are indentical cars, built for identical purpose(s). I specifically remember looking at the stenciled PM markings and thinking the cars were getting close to the 40 or 50 year mark.
The casting date on the right hand side of the truck frame says 8-87.
Why does the center wheelset (on all trucks of all cars in this series) appear to have a converted plain bearing box?
In the linked photo it appears that the center section is bolted? to the outer two sections.
Next time I get the chance I will note the earliest date painted on the car (and the cast in date on the trucks). I would speculate that these are not the original truck for the flat car.
Im guessing Rule 90 n (equipped with on board detectors) is how they can use the center casting design.
B-800 is not on the list (which is what I think I saw in the photo of the truck side frame).
I was just there in June. Got photos of the roundhouse at the nearby CSX yard and of all the Buckeye trucks that were around the area (two or three sets all painted up on display), and a couple of the buildings (once I realized what I was looking at, it took a moment).
DODX 39918 and 39919 are not in the October 1986 ORER (DODX 39911 through 39917 are.). The two cars do appear in the October 1990 ORER. Hence my statement. I suppose DOD could have held them back after receipt; thus they would have had them, but they would not show in the ORER. But then the would not have been available for interchange. Which was kind of where we started.
Regrding the center “bearing bump”:
One possible reason for the bump is that it was on the pattern that was chosen for the truck castings. Having the bump does not demand having plain bearings, as the photos demonstrate. Perhaps the choice was expedient. Anyway, if this were the case, the trucks would have always been roller bearing.
Another possibility is that the trucks were remanufactured from plain bearing trucks. Other Ed has shown two pictures of plain bearing Buckeye trucks, and it’s not
I don’t think that I actually said that the car had plain bearings, just that the truck appeared to have converted plain bearing castings.
Given that the outer plain bearings were removable from the side frames (and not cast in place), and that the center axle bearing appears to have a cast in place box. I submit that the original truck casting may have been modified (meaning the drain hole was cast into the bottom of the box of the center of the truck by Buckeye) (the water that will collect in there has to have a way out) instead of being built as a plain bearing then drilled out. “The government does always go with the lowest bidder.”
Anyway, next time I get the chance I will note build date and PM dates (the car I saw had not been repainted and had stencils showing the military planned maintenance system (stenciled when maintenance completed) going back several many years.
Does a similar car appear under possibly a USNX or USAX reporting mark prior to 1986?
Edit: nope, change over to DODX should have been completed by 1975.
http://www.railgoat.railfan.net/other_cars/dodx_cars/dodx/dodx.htm
This website says that 39911 was built in 1953.
I dont think that 39912-917 are that old, and it is possible that I saw 917 or some car from this group.
There is a photo of 39913 in 1983 on RR-fallen flags.
That having been said.
They all appear to have identical (or nearly so) trucks.
January 1976 ORER had none of the cars of interest.
April 1980 had 39911-39913.
I think the Railgoat date is an error.
And, yes, there were no USAX or USNX cars showing in 1976.
Ed