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Tichy / Intermountain War Emergency Gondola Updated 8-1-15 In 1943 the Santa Fe received 200 GA-61 gondolas from Pullman-Standard and 200 more classed GA-63 from General American. They were identical except for trucks: Barber Stabilized S-2 on the GA-61 and National B-1 on the GA-63. They were composite cars as was standard during the war when steel was needed for the war effort. Tichy first produced this car as a kit. Then Intermountain began selling it as a ready to run car. It was reviewed at length in The Warbonnet, Volume 8, #1. These cars were basically AAR design with minor variations for various railroads that owned the cars. Therefore the ends are not correct for the Santa Fe as they should be two rib rather than three as in the kit. The corner posts need to be trimmed to make them match the prototype (see photo below). Roping staples on the bottom of the side sills must be removed and the trucks changed to match the class. The brake retainer valve is too low on the side of the cara. A major consideration is the light weight of the model which weighs less than 2 ounces. It will need lead add to the underbody and/or a heavy load to bring it up to the recommended 4.65 ounces. There are similar issues with the other paint schemes given to this car by Intermountain. None are 100% correct.
Steve Sandifer |
