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That sounds like an A+ great idea.
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How about buildng it and posting pictures in Weekend Photo Fun so we can all share in the excitement?
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-Kevin
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I’m going to detail it a about as well as a Athearn RTR version of a Thrall Coal Gondola, and the biggest consession would be using friction bearing trucks, unless I go brass, if I can find them cheap enough. Another thing I might not do is have it lettered for KCS, maybe Rio Grande or SP.
I found 10 Roundhouse Thrall Coal Gons for 55 bucks, I might bid on them, I don’t know if I will go for exact replication of the KCS prototype as far as the stall spacing and count and such.
If you are going to go with metal replacement trucks, Steven, I would just use Kadees. I’ve found brass trucks to be very tempermental because they can bend and distort easily.
At least that’s the case on a few used brass cabooses that I purchased in the past. When I initially placed them on the track, they kept derailing. I soon discovered that the truck frame that attaches to the bolster was not flat but bent. I had to use some flat pliers to straighten them out; not difficult to do since the brass is thin and fairly pliable.
Kadee friction bearing trucks, IMO, would be more reliable, more readily available, and less expensive than brass ones. FWIW…
Tom
Why not used the roller bearing trucks that come with the HO Thrall gondola model. Since the prototypes were produced in the mid-1960’s and afterward, I doubt they would have had friction bearing style trucks.
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I have not seen any pictures of previous projects, but they were all way too ambitious that were mentioned before.
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I have real hopes for this one. It is a good project for an early attempt, and I am looking forward to the pictures. I am also looking forward to answering questions that will arise, and seeing the final result.
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Steven looks like he is on the “right track” with this idea.
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-Kevin
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I gotta find special trucks because the prototype rides of three axle buckeye roller bearing trucks.
From earlier “projects” I thought you stated that you weren’t so concerned about accuracy. Why not just start the project and let the prototype trucks be icing on the cake? Until you enter it into a prototype kitbash contest, few folks are going to notice (or even care) they are “incorrect”.
In the photo of those exotic long hi-side gondola’s (leave you to find something exotic to focus on), the left car has 2-axle trucks and appears to be a similar car.
In the end I have to ask, why not just buy freight cars which were more common and save yourself and us a lot of drama?
I gotta cash my paycheck, and I’ll order the stuff I need, so far I need two Roundhouse Coal Gondolas, I need a sheet of black styrene sheet, a Zona razor saw, and I tried finding black squadron putty but couldn’t so I’m going to get gray. It’ll probably be tomorrow afternoon when I order it all, I’m going to get my toolbag to work on the pool pumps at the hotel’s right now. It a long story of why both pumps are broken and you probably won’t believe me. I’ll be sure to post pictures of the progress on the car project.
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I will be looking for the pictures in Weekend Photo Fun. You have comitted to posting update pictures before and always fell short.
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As I said, I do believe this is the perfect project for you to finally “just do it”, and I have faith that you can deliver this time.
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-Kevin
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I’m just curious why such a gon exists
Spring Mills Depot says they will be selling these trucks separately from their upcoming DODX heavy duty flat.
Ed
I did a little research on the KCS gon:
One thing, it’s a 150 ton car. When new. Which can explain the 6-wheel trucks. I found a caption for the photo that notes that the two adjacent cars apparently had their trucks traded out for 4-wheel. I would think that that lowers the weight capacity of the cars.
Anyway, comparing the KCS car with the Athearn car in the other photo:
I had a look at dimensional data from the ORER. The KCS car is very roughly 22 feet longer, and 2’ 8" taller. It is/was a humongous gon: 75’ 11" overall length!
One COULD just lengthen the Athearn car out to about 76’, and run it with regular 4-wheel trucks. Done that way, it’s a pretty simple project; the trick being getting a really nice square and tight join. With a little care, you could use the BN prelettered cars (or maybe one of the other schemes), and just redecal the numbers and some of the data. This would, of course, be a fantasy car. But doing a simplified model is already a fantasy, anyway. If you found some older ones, they came 5 to a box. Two boxes would yield 5 of the longies. A nice block of cars to run in a train.
Ed
They were built as 150 ton coal cars, they were relegated to woodchip service when that happened some of the cars lost their buckeye three axles for standard two axle trucks, some cars also received 31" extensions to their sides to increase capacity.
I’m fine with Steven’s enthusiasms. If I feel I’m putting too much time into one of his projects, I just stop.
Maybe he’ll build something. Maybe not.
Ed
Gentlemen, I just placed an order for two roundhouse thrall 100 ton 50 ft high side gondolas, a Zona razor saw, a miter box, a sheet of evergreen black styrene, grey squadron putty, and a host scale ruler, it all came to 66 dollars. I will post updates as they happen. Thank you!
I got my popcorn and I am watching 
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That sounds like a good assortment. There are a lot of things that will make the project better that you might already have.
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Sanding blocks, squares, small steel strips and rare earth magnets, a large flat mill file, and a sheet of tempered glass will all help.
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If you need encouragement, just ask. If you run into trouble, just ask.
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Most importantly… when it starts to go wrong, just finish it.
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-Kevin
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I understand the use of the other stuff but the magnets, steel strips, and tempered glass serve what purpose?
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Steel strips and magnets are very useful for holding parts in alignment. Tempered glass s a perfectly smooth surface to assemble on. A piece of sandpaper on tempered glass can give a very smooth and even finished surface.
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No worry if you do not have these… just get it done!
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-Kevin
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