Laser-cut Craftsman Kits RIDGEWAY OFFICE BUILDING
The class M-53 boxcars weighed
1,600 pounds less than B&O’s class M- 26e boxcar then in service, so they could carry 1,600 pounds more revenue load. Also the cubic capacity was in- creased to 656 cubic feet. The lighter superstructure reduced
HO-Scale 19029 Ridgeway Office Building Footprint: 9-1/2" x 6-3/4" x 4-1/4"
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the center of gravity of the car which reduced the sway of the car during travel, thereby providing additional protection for merchandise. The use of copper-bearing steel increased the life expectancy. The B&O proprietary de- sign was patented by John J. Tatum, the B&O car superintendent for a gen- eration. After the tests of the original design
Baltimore & Ohio class M-53 wagon-top boxcar: HO scale Mfd., by ExactRail, 1053 South 1675
West, Orem, Utah 84058; see the web- site
www.ExactRail.com. A recent HO ready-to-run model of-
fered by ExactRail in its Platinum Se- ries is the Baltimore & Ohio class M- 53 “wagon-top” boxcar, one of the most distinctive freight cars to roll in North America. They started life as five ex- perimental boxcars of a new, uncon- ventional and innovative design built at B&O’s Mt. Clare shops in 1935 to test various corrosion-resistant metals. The design was originally referred to
from 1934 to 1936, a batch of 2,000 cars of class M-53 were built at four B&O car shops from June, 1937, and March, 1938. They were numbered B&O 380000 to 381999. The company shops and the numbers of cars built were Keyser, West Virginia (675); Dubois, Pennsylvania (575); Chilli- cothe, Ohio (385) and Washington, In- diana (365). The car’s dimensions were: 10′-0″ in-
side height, 40′-6″ inside length, 9′-2″ inside width and 30′-8⁷/₈″ truck cen- ters. They had 6′-0″ wide door open- ings and a capacity of 3,712 cubic feet and 50-tons. The M-53 boxcars were equipped
with a Duryea Cushioned Underframe to cushion the shock of coupling and
Pennsylvania RR 1935 Broadway Limited HO Scale
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80
as “covered-wagon-top,” which was lat- er shortened to “wagon-top.” A distinctive feature of the new patented body design was fabricated from individual steel pieces of side posts and roof carline in one continu- ous U-shaped piece that extended up one side, across the roof and down the other side. The pieces were joined by waterproof riveted lap joints. Each end consisted of a single flat steel sheet. The doors were also made of flat steel. The unconventional wagon-top design avoided the purchase of fabricated freight car component sides, roof, ends and doors from other companies.
travel slack movements. The under- frame consisted of a sliding centersill buffered by large springs. The draft gear travel of conventional under- frames was limited in order to keep slack under tolerable limits. The Duryea underframe was designed to keep slack under control but increase the energy absorption of the frame. The B&O was an early adopter and frequent user of the Duryea under- frame. The Duryea underframe caused the draft gear to protrude from the car ends. The M-53 boxcars were fitted with an AB brake system, Ajax power hand JULY 2012
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