Here is another odd car I came across in West Colton. Anyone know what it is?
Home made scale car?..it is lettered for SP MOW…and it is missing the coupler on the left end.
Ed, I didn’t even notice the missing coupler. It was next to the car shop though.
BTW- Don’t let those guys in the other thread get to you. I always enjoy reading your posts and you are a valuable member of this forum.
Chad, I agree with Ed. It looks like a test car for hump scales and control computer operations testing. When we put the first remote weigh-in-motion-while-in-train scales together between Montague and Weed on the Siskiyou, we used a car that look very much like this one. Only thing seeming to be missing is that the words “SCALE TEST CAR” are not painted on the car side. But, maybe, that is what the two plackards near each end tell us.
Ah, yes, one of the reasons for train-placement rules for moving test cars. Making them one-lungers is a no-no. Really screws up the testing results.
Chad,
If you mean Mike Sol… not on his best day would he ever cost me a minutes sleep, or a seconds worry.
Trolls are easy.[:D]
And yeah, they get a little upset when you bend the test cars…
And sometimes very entertaining.[;)]
This is true…[:D]
Hey, e mail me at
renaissance-man@sbcglobal.net…
Iam off to work at WoodCraft till late, but I have some reading material that might tickle you some.
OK Ed, will do.
When I posted this thread I had forgotten all about seeing this in the departure yard last year.
They appear to be different cars. I note the second one has markings saying “Do Not Hump” on the ends. What is that car for?
The bottom one is definately a scale test car, I remember seeing that written clearly on one end. The one at the top of the thread I don’t know. I didn’t even notice the missing coupler at the time, I was buzzing around places I probably shouldn’t have been and didn’t want to be obvious about it so I didn’t stop there, just snapped one driveing by it.
Chad:
The SPMW 5090 is indeed a scale test car. You can see identical cars to this, labelled MP,UP, and SPMW most of the time at OmniTrax in Loveland, CO while in for standard maintenance and repair under contract. (If you’re lucky, you can also see them derail on a 29 degree curve just ahead of the shop door)…Most were built at Jenks.
Here’s some (stupid maybe) questions:
-
What’s a scale test car for?
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What does NIMBY mean?
#1: I would guess it’s used to check the accuracy of railroad scales. If you knew how much the car weighs, you could drive it onto the scale to see if the scale needs calibrating.
#2 NIMBY= “Not in my back yard”. It’s used to describe people who generaly enjoy the benefits of something like a powerplant. They just want it sited in someone else’s “back yard”, not theirs.
These folks are somewhat related to the BANANAs - “Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything.”
I’m guessing on this one Chad, but I’m thinking either a test car or maybe a coil car.
I doubt it is a test car. It looks kind of lopsided to be one. By the shape all the weight would be on the near side which wouldn’t accurately test a scale.