Gondola's?

ozzy

Active Member
are they going to the way side? i dont think i ever seen any on a major RR, or mainline , just old beat up ones on sidings or in little po dink yards or on little po dink RR. and only hulling junk scrap metal.

are they used much at all any more? did they stop production?
 

Jim Krause

Active Member
I see them quite frequently here in Montana, on BNSF freights, hauling steel rolls. Also occasional loads of pilings and long steel I beams.
 

Tommybza

New Member
I think junk metal is a huge business ,we have a guy who put his girls threw college .picking up scrap out of the alleys ,out here in IND. they run tons of scrap .to watch those bottel cars rolling with molten metal is dank cool .
T
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
Gons are still in use quite a bit for steel and scrap metal. There is a tank manufacturer in South Central Los Angeles next to where the shop I worked at was located before they moved out to City Of Industry (about 20 miles East) that used to receive loads of steel in gons, and then after they unloaded the steel, they would load the gons with cutting scrap from the manufacturing process. Typically they would get in 3 loads of steel and then later send out one load of scrap metal. I suspect since the U.S. steel industry is pretty much dead, that the steel comes in from Japan and the scrap goes out to Japan.
 

brakie

Active Member
Let's take a look see shall we? Be sure to check other roards-top left corner..



RPM


What I find odd there is more boxcars(includes all types) then gons.
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
Let's take a look see shall we? Be sure to check other roards-top left corner..



RPM


What I find odd there is more boxcars(includes all types) then gons.

Are the Tropicanna juice trains to NYC routed over the NS. If they are and the reefers are considered a type of box car that might account for the high number of boxcars on the lists. I understand that Tropicanna ships a 100 car juice train to NYC 5 times a week, and that orange juice is the #1 commodity sold by NYC supermarkets and grocery stores.
 

brakie

Active Member
Russ,CSX handles the juice..Reefer cars is listed under "other".

Boxcars are your normal boxcars,auto part boxcars,food service boxcars, news print boxcars and boxcars assign to haul alcohol beverages..
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
Russ,CSX handles the juice..Reefer cars is listed under "other".

Boxcars are your normal boxcars,auto part boxcars,food service boxcars, news print boxcars and boxcars assign to haul alcohol beverages..

That explains it Brakie. Doesn't NS run right through the heart of moonshine country?
 

brakie

Active Member
Russ,Yes..In fact NS's Pocahontas Division was built during the Hatfeild/MCCoy feud and men refuse to work in that area so,the track was laid around that area even tho' a much straighter route could have been built.
 

ozzy

Active Member
Gons are still in use quite a bit for steel and scrap metal. There is a tank manufacturer in South Central Los Angeles next to where the shop I worked at was located before they moved out to City Of Industry (about 20 miles East) that used to receive loads of steel in gons, and then after they unloaded the steel, they would load the gons with cutting scrap from the manufacturing process. Typically they would get in 3 loads of steel and then later send out one load of scrap metal. I suspect since the U.S. steel industry is pretty much dead, that the steel comes in from Japan and the scrap goes out to Japan.

i thought japan imports the steel they need. all the steel that comes into work is made in the USA or Canada. a small bit from Germany .
 

Renovo PPR

Just a Farmer
Freight Car America Inc still turns out gondolas by the thousands each year along with open top hoppers, both for the purpose of hauling coal. The bad news is that they are closing the Local Johnstown, Pa plant and moving that production to Roanoke, VA.
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
I used to work at the Eagle Mountain Iron Mine which was owned and operated by Kaiser Steel. About 75% of the iron that was pulled out of the mine was exported to Japan to make steel. When the Long Shore Union went on a six month long strike in 1970, Kaiser started selling iron they mined in Australia to Japan. Eventually the Eagle Mountain Iron mine closed as well as the steel mill in Fontana. Today the iron mine is being used as a land fill sight, and the sight of the old steel mill is now California Speedway.
 

Triplex

Active Member
Freight Car America Inc still turns out gondolas by the thousands each year along with open top hoppers, both for the purpose of hauling coal.
It is weird. Around the beginning of the 20th century (?), hoppers replaced gondolas in coal service. But since the late 60s (? again), high-side gondolas have been replacing hoppers!

Yes, I know hoppers are still being made. But it's still odd.
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
It is weird. Around the beginning of the 20th century (?), hoppers replaced gondolas in coal service. But since the late 60s (? again), high-side gondolas have been replacing hoppers!

Yes, I know hoppers are still being made. But it's still odd.

It probably has to do with how the coal is unloaded at the delivery site. If they have to use a shovel or scoop from the top, gondolas may be easier; but if they have a pit to dump the coal into from the bottom and then a conveyor to transfer the coal to the stack, a hopper would be better.
 

Jim Krause

Active Member
I wonder if the open top gondola's used for coal hauling aren't unloaded with a rotary dumper, where the entire car is turned upside down? Anybody know for sure? Covered hopper's are used for grain hauling in this area of the world.
 

brakie

Active Member
I wonder if the open top gondola's used for coal hauling aren't unloaded with a rotary dumper, where the entire car is turned upside down? Anybody know for sure? Covered hopper's are used for grain hauling in this area of the world.

Yes the gons have rotary couplers that allows the cars to be dumped in groups..
 
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