TSM1701506 - HO - CR Coil Gondola 601842

Conrail ‘1988 G43B Coil Service’ With Coil Racks in Conrail red paint represents the former PC-painted G43B series. Conrail maintained the lettering locations that PC did, painting the Conrail reporting marks, road number, and Conrail ‘can opener’ logo in the same locations PC had stenciled them. The G43B prototype features cushion draft gear, giving the model a distinctive look compared to the other G43 classes. The top chord of the car has a ‘COIL STEEL LOADING ONLY’ stencil to remind customers and railroad officers that the car is equipped with coil racks. This model has coil racks included and recommend a load of four coils to replicate the most prototypical loading patterns. Coil Steel loads available separately. These Conrail coil service gondolas are offered in 12 road numbers and feature details appropriate for these 1969-built cars.

Prototype Information: The G43 gondolas were a modern fleet of 52’6” interior length 100-ton mill gondolas built by the Pennsylvania Railroad and merger successor Penn Central at the Sam Rea Shops in Hollidaysburg PA from 1966 to 1970, to replace older gondolas with a rugged design suitable for mill steel products, scrap, and aggregate services.

All of the G43 series gondolas are identified by their side corrugations, after which each of the G43 sub-classes, G43 / G43A / G43B / G43C are visually distinctive from one another. Many were modified during the Conrail era with coil ‘racks’ to transport uncovered steel coils. Some served NS and CSXT in the post-Conrail era in various services including coil service, as well as other revenue and MOW services, while other cars were sold to the secondary market with leasing firm reporting marks.

Features include:

• Dimensional accuracy – designed from actual Sam Rea blueprints and verified with field measurements
• Highly correct ‘true to life’ colors
• Accurate lettering including exact fonts and lettering placement
• Kadee scale couplers
• ‘Near-scale’ draft gear box with side ‘key’ detail
• 3 specific production variations that highlight production from 1966-1970, including different bodies, interiors, with or without coil racks, different underframes, different ends
• ‘See through’ brake steps
• Separately applied air hoses, wire grab irons, coupler lift bars, and stand-off ladders and stirrup steps
• CNC-machined 36” wheels
• Tangent 100-ton Barber S-2 Granite City foundry trucks with prototype-specific rotating bearing caps
• Separate truck brake beam part