Arrowhead Models HO ARR-1225-1 CNW #350291 Greenville 2494 “Railgon” Gondola

Product Description Arrowhead Models is proud to release 5 Chicago & North Western ex-Railgon paint schemes! Among the family of ex-Railgon gondolas the CNW fleet was unique in that they adopted a program of only partially repainting their cars. The black areas of the original Railgon car were repainted black. While the yellow areas of the Railgon paint scheme were not repainted. This result was a stark black and yellow paint scheme that smacks of a U.S. Steel-inspired/Pittsburg-esque heavy industry--which although not likely intended was meet for their service assignments. In 1988 the Chicago & North Western (CNW) acquired 400 GONX gondolas from Railgon Co. They were commonly in heavy mill and scrap steel service. According to the late Ira Kulbersh the Chief Mechanical Engineer for the CNW the ex-Railgon cars were recognized as the “Battleships” of the CNW gondola fleet and these cars remained on the CNW roster through the UP merger. Once under the ownership of the UP there was no broad program to repaint this series or give these cars new reporting marks and road numbers. As such the CNW paint schemes are characteristic of the fleet though the end of their UP service lives. The UP began retiring CNW ex-Railgon cars en masse in 2011 although some cars have lasted years beyond this time. Arrowhead Model has faithfully replicated 5 cars from the CNW fleet. These cars are accurate road number specific paint schemes that have been specifically chosen to reflect the diversity and character of the fleet. Each model is a precise match for its respective road number--including specific capacity data. These cars even match the eccentricities of these repaint schemes--from the hodge podge character artwork to how not all of these characters are perfectly alligned across the car. It all matches the prototype on a per road number basis. About Railgon Railgon was incorporated on June 21 1979. It was organized as a Trailer Train subsidiary and the firm’s directors were comprised of Trailer Train senior management. Railgon was formed as a response to an industry-wide attrition of serviceable gondolas. There were fleet shortages and available cars were well abused and well aged. From there the trend lines weren’t good. Trailer Train believed that some parts of the Railbox formula could be utilized for gondolas. That is gondolas could be leased via capital in trust accounts and railroads would have access to the cars by entering into a pool agreement. In March of 1981 eight months after the first gondolas were delivered to the property 135 railroads were in participation. The Railgon/GONX gondola was built to a proprietary design the specifications for which were laid out by Trailer Train’s Engineering and Research Department. These cars were built by the major car builders of the day--which is interesting for the fact that among model railroaders at least the GONX car is generally recognized as a Thrall product. However there are in fact five builders. Of those Thrall isn’t even the one to build the car in the greatest quantities. So it is an interesting thing that this notion has become so ingrained. Greenville Pullman-Standard Bethlehem and Berwick also built the GONX car. They did so to a common design in terms of the car’s major elements. Yet each builder tweaked the design-standard enough to produce visually distinctive cars. In total Railgon built 4000. These were delivered between July of 1980 and October 1981. In the 1980s heavy industry slipped into recession and the demand for gondolas slipped with it. Railgon received gondolas and almost immediately began moving those cars into storage. According to the authors Panza Dawson and Sellberg in their excellent book The TTX Story 78% of the total Railgon fleet was in storage as of March 1982. This set into play a need to restructure Railgon’s financial obligations. In fact by the end of 1983 Railgon’s losses totaled $19.2 million. Restructuring was in order and as a part of the initial phase 2000 car leases were transferred from Railgon corporation to Chessie and Seaboard System in 1984. In 1986 Railgon transferred an additional 100 leases to Kansas City Southern and in 1987 589 leases were transferred to CNW and D&RGW. Railgon was bailing water but they weren’t yet swimming. The firm was projected to slide into insolvency in 1988. The result of storage and low utilization was that the yellow and black livery remained resplendent well into the late 1980s. Stored GONX cars were dispersed among participating roads and other available locations. In the mid-1980s it is easy to recall cuts of GONX cars that to my young eyes at least appeared brand new. In reality these cars were approaching seven plus years old. Economic trends change and utilization rates surged into 1988. From this point forward GONX cars carried Railgon up the arc to profitability. Through the 1990s the 1300 GONX cars generated sufficient revenue to pay back loans that were extended in the downturn. If you would like to learn more about the Railgon Corporation please see ‘The TTX Story’ by Jim Panza Richard Dawson and Ronald Sellberg. Also see Jim Panza’s article entitled Railgon in Model Railroad Craftsman December 1980. About the Model 199+ Parts We have reason to believe that this is more parts than any HO scale freight car or caboose to date. Although that is difficult to know that with absolute certainty we can say that Arrowhead’s Greenville 2494 “Railgon” gondola is on par with high-end HO scale passenger cars in terms of scope and complexity. We are proud to offer a model of this magnitude at a price that is competitive for freight cars generally. Comprehensive Paint Scheme Fidelity We have done something that although conceptually simple is quite difficult to pull off. For as- -delivered cars Arrowhead Models has created artwork that accurately matches the Light Weight (LT WT) and Load Limit (LD LMT) data on a per road number basis. This is a market first and it represents the highest benchmark for artwork accuracy. What does this mean? The convention is to create a single design file for as-delivered paint schemes and then assign to that file multiple road numbers. The road numbers change everything else stays the same. The issue is that if the only thing that changes across different road numbers is just the road number itself then the artwork is not truly accurate on a per road number basis. The reason is that the values for the tare weight (LT WT and LD LMT) vary with the road number. This happens because when building a freight car the dimensional tolerances of steel extrude are relatively loose. When a fabricator pulls a stick to build a car the low tolerances of the extrude itself make it so a particular stick may weigh differently than the next stick in the pull. The net result of these differences give rise to hundreds of pounds of weight variation on a per car basis. When construction is complete each individual car is weighed and the appropriate LT WT and LD LMT data is assigned--one by one car by car--because they are all different. Our records indicate that across the entire range of GONX cars the LT WT and LD LMT values vary by 15000 lbs. (from 62300 lbs. to 77300 lbs. with an average tare of 70500 lbs.) This is what we mean when we say comprehensive paint scheme fidelity. All data is correct for all the cars on a per road number basis--again a market first! Additional Features 81 wire parts per car including grab irons pull loops tie downs coupler cut bars air reservoir plumbing retaining valve lines release valve rods brake rod and brake lever hangers and side post tie downs. 34 etched brass parts per car including side sheets floor end stiffener plates retaining valve bracket air reservoir brackets ABD valve brackets brake pulley brackets and pulley mounts brake step and inferior and superior cross-member gussets. Brass side sheets on our gondola! Finally deform and weather without the nonsense of wielding a soldering iron and melting plastic! Accurate cross sections for I-beam and C-channel cross members all of which are separately applied! This gives accurate separation between cross members stringers and the floor. This reflects Arrowhead’s focus on detail another market first for RTR cars. Code 88 (0.088”) “Fine Scale” CNC machined metal wheelsets and metal axles. Brass formed mounting brackets for the Air Reservoir ABD Valve Brake Cylinder and guide pulleys. These brackets dimensionally match the mounting brackets of the prototype which are press-broke and cut from sheet steel. Greenville 2494 “Railgon” Gondola Release 4 Full top chord detail including Wine Drop Lok #1613 tie downs and properly spaced and appropriately dimensioned fastener holes. 5-piece Klasing 1500 hand brake with separate brake housing mounting plate brake wheel release lever and chain. “Scale” draft box and details including key shank and full bolt detail. Accurately shaped and located air hose bracket and outboard brake levers. Kadee #156 Whisker Couplers