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Home / News & Reviews / News Wire / East Broad Top Group acquires 1934 standard gauge PRR boxcar
The X29 class car will explain how the narrow gauge line can avoid the dilemma of transshipment
The X29 class car will explain how the narrow gauge line can avoid the dilemma of transshipment
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ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pennsylvania-East Broad Top Railroad achieved one of its conservation goals on Thursday, August 19th. The arrival of a standard gauge, 40-foot steel boxcar illustrates the history of the narrow-gauge railway line for public transportation. How to tow a bigger car with a transfer truck.
On Wednesday morning, this former Pennsylvania Railroad X29 class car was loaded on a flatbed trailer at the Kiski Junction Railroad in Schenley, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. By noon, it was placed on a standard gauge truck on a short double gauge track next to the EBT freight station. In addition to the employees of EBT and the two contracted rigging companies, Joe Kovalchick, the former EBT owner and current EBT Foundation, Inc. board member, also watched the progress of the meeting.
The foundation intends to use X29 to showcase East Broad Top’s creative approach to avoid costly and time-consuming freight transfers between standard and three-foot narrow gauge vehicles [see "East Broad Top Foundation seeks standard gauge freight cars for a specific period, "Train News Line, January 18, 2021]. EBT officials said that when fully restored, the car will be connected to a narrow-gauge train for photo freight and other such demonstration activities.
The inability to interchange cars is one of the main reasons for the failure of the narrow gauge line. By using timber transfer cranes in Mount Union, Pennsylvania, EBT is able to transport utility poles, timber, cement, asphalt, and other cargo on its lines without the hassle of transshipment. Brad Esposito, general manager of the EBT Foundation, stated that the railway hopes to purchase one or two more standard gauge cars, which may be a funnel with a lid, a hanging basket, or a tank car. All these examples use the original EBT driving.
Although it is the smallest of the PRR standard steel boxcar designs, the vehicle built in 1934 is taller than EBT's own boxcar in the Rockhill Furnace yard. This level is not PRR's first type of steel boxcar, but with its huge scale, the X29 fleet has become a car design that sets the standard for the transition from wood or composite materials to an all-steel structure. Between 1924 and 1934, PRR purchased and/or built a total of 29,000 vehicles of this 50-ton capacity. The outline is very close to the outline of the standard boxcar of the era recommended by the American Railroad Association in 1923, and has been copied by many other railroads. They include Boston and Maine, Baltimore and Ohio, Central New Jersey, Caspian New England, Nickel Plate Road, and Wheeling and Lake Erie.
Many PRR X29s continue to perform road maintenance services after the revenue transportation period ends. This car is one of them, so its regular maintenance time is much longer than many other cars, and it is in good condition.
Kiski Junction closed down earlier this year after losing its freight customers. It provides a moderate diesel tourist passenger service and freight service. The Everett Railway Company near Altoona also purchased other KJR products, including the EMD SW900 switcher No. 126, the Jersey Central Coach No. 1154, and the former Pittsburgh and Lake Erie bay window caboose.
The EBT Foundation and the Friends of EBT are absolutely amazing organizations.
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