Day 12 of 180 Days of A/P Cars - #3 Gondola - Slab Car

Slabs are the cut off round sides of the log as well as bits and pieces that can't be sold as lumber.  These are used as fuel for the mill and sometimes as fuel for the locomotives.  The Argent Lumber Company had many slab cars, but they were just for one purpose.  The Hebard Cypress Company would have had a car that could haul slabs back to the woods from the mill, but could haul something back from the woods as well.  A gondola is a good car for that purpose.  Needless to say this car is freelanced.

Here is a picture of a OR&W gondola from Ed Cass's book Hidden Treasures: The Story of the Ohio River and Western Railway.  There are a few more in the book that I will include in my files.  The car rides on the very same frame as the flat car with the exception of the thickness of the ends and the notched end.  So we'll probably make a jig and fashion them all from the jig.

This drawing by Ed Cass shows the details of the car.  Car #3 will be reproduced exactly as here, except it will have a load of slabs included.  I've also thought about making this a MOW rail car to feed the track gang.  Build it with the ends dropped down.  Rail sections are 39 feet, so that probably won't work.