Matt Dotti finally got his flanger, Winters mostly here, Plowing is about to begin, So I thought that I might share some pics I shot in Chama on the C&T wile wandering about.
D&RGW Equipment… Flanger OL sitting on the sidelines, Looks operational to me.
Other end,
Note the thick deck, I had always wondered why they made them it this way, and never thought it thru.
And Flanger OJ:
Note the different " wings " or plows, between the two.
Here’s an excerpt from " A CENTURY +TEN OF D&RGW NARROW GUAGE FREIGHT CARS 1871 TO 1981" By Robert Sloan. on Flangers Pg. 263
and the accompliting chart, Pg 264
Please note the weight of these 18’ cars. nearly a ton per foot. heres the secret from FLANGER OK.
As you can see it’s in pretty bad shape, but it appears to be all there.
One side sill has fallen off, but a good look see at the end sill joint.
And here is how they get these things to weigh so much. Cast Iron! Lots of it.
The entire deck is covered in these “Bricks” of cast iron. I didn’t count how many, but front to back, side to side.
And as a reference for size, thats my size 9 boot.
These things are about 2 inches thick.
About 15 tons of Iron bricks, I tried to pick one up, NOPE! They don’t have to worry about someone walking off with them.
And as a side note, note the difference in the size of the wheel set on these two cars. OJ on the left and a ditcher on the right. Big difference in size, and note the two really different styles of “Arch bar” trucks, and size.
Hope that this helps someone.