(erielack) Erie PS 2893 covered hoppers

["Brian J Carlson" <brian_@_net.bluemoon.net>]

Sorry, I'm a little late in responding to this email, I wanted to get my
material together first.  As Paul T. mentions the Erie cars were built by
Greenville, and the roof hatch spacing is different than the Athearn model.
If we consider the roof to be laid out in 5 rows of 2 then rows two and four
need to be moved closer to the center of the car.  Many other lots of PS
built cars had this same roof arrangement. For the record, I have a photo of
Erie 21824, built 7/57 which was purchased from Bob's Photo's. As Paul B.
said the trucks are roller bearing. From the photo I have they appear to be
70-ton ACF A-3 Ride Control Trucks.

Greenville Steel Car Co. (GV) obtained the rights to build the PS 2893
covered hoppers and outwardly they were virtually identical to the PS built
cars.   However, Greenville covered hoppers had some notable differences
from the PS built cars.  The most visible item is the hopper bottoms as they
drop below the side sill. Greenville built hopper bottoms are angled inward
directly below the side sill, whereas the PS built cars have a short
vertical drop before the hopper bottoms angle inward towards the outlets.
Also, the side and end ladder supports of the Greenville built are
essentially straight from the side sill to
the roof. The bottom of the PS built ladders are positioned outside the side
sill and bend inward towards the roof. Sill steps of the Greenville cars
were noticeably
different than those used on PS cars also.

Are the Athearn models exact matches for the Erie car? No? Are they "close
enough," well I guess that depends on your definition of close enough. The
difference in hopper bottom is a glaring difference to me and I haven't yet
decided if I can live with it and do an Erie model. the other differences
have relatively easy fixes, but I don't really want to rebuild the hoppers.

As a side note, if anyone knows the details of the PS and Greenville
agreement regarding the building of the PS-2/GV-2 (Greenville PS-2 clone)
and PS 2893 covered hoppers I'd be interested in the details. I compared the
PS-2 build roster to the GV-2 build roster a few years ago, and I noticed
some interesting similarities and a few questions.

LNE 18001-18100 GV-2
LEN 18101-18200 PS-2
D&H 12000-12109 PS-2  lots)
D&H 12110-12174 GV-2
These roads are used for comparison purposes only there are other split
orders.

I haven't been able to find out if all orders were placed with Pullman
Standard and they allocated some lots to Greenville, or if the railroads
themselves placed the orders with both builders.  A former Greenville
employee told Ed Hawkins there was an agreement, but no specifics have been
uncovered.

Brian J Carlson P.E.
Cheektowaga NY


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