Test Track


Fox Valley’s


HO Scale Silverside Gondola: Grandaddy of the Unit Coal Train


Any company wishing


to submit a product for Test Track may do so by providing samples to be reviewed to the address below. We prefer light- colored models that will photograph well. Submitt ed models will not be returned.


Please send products to: Railroad Model Craft sman, ATTN: Tony Cook, P.O. Box 177 Platt sburg, MO 64477


HO — For Southern Railway, its company slogan, “the Railway System that Gives a Green Light to Innovations,” was not an emp- ty platitude, but a true company endeavor. Of the railroad’s many achievements during its nine-de- cade existence, the concept of the unit train — a common practice seen throughout the North Ameri- can rail system today — was first introduced by Southern back in 1960 and involved both the haul- ing of grain and coal. Model rail- roaders have recently witnessed an HO-scale rendering of the rail- way’s groundbreaking aluminum “Big John” covered hopper, which helped the grain industry realize


new efficiencies. That car’s relat- ed kin and fellow revolutionary Pullman-Standard (P-S) 100-ton aluminum coal gondola known as “Silversides” is now the subject of a new 1:87 release from Fox Valley Models. By the late 1950s, several


on-line electric companies ap- proached Southern regarding a cost-effective method of trans- porting coal from regional mines to new power-generating plants. In the past, both 50- and 70-ton multi-bay riveted steel hoppers had been employed in this ser- vice, but larger car capacities and faster loading and unloading times were now needed. Just as


Southern did with its Big John grain hopper, the railroad turned to the car builders for a solution. Pullman-Standard answered the call with a similar radical 100-ton capacity gondola to be fabricated almost entirely from welded light- weight Reynolds aluminum extru- sions and plate; only the center sill, handholds, brake gear, and trucks would be constructed from traditional steel. Higher payloads could be achieved with this de- sign, as a result of the improved lightweight-to-loaded weight ra- tio and, thereby, offer a lower to- tal operating cost for the actual coal tonnage moved as well. While more expensive to manufacture,


86 RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN


PRODUCT REVIEW


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