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History:
Southern acquired 1,500 50-Ton gondolas
from Pullman Standard. These were numbered in series 118750 – 119749
(Southern), 288000 – 288249 (CNO&TP), and 316000 – 316249 (AGS). As
built, the all steel cars had 9 ribs, Andrews trucks, AB brakes, and
“slab-braced” ends. The cars were painted black and lettered in the
Southern’s Roman Lettering.
In 1945, Southern had Pullman Standard rebuild these cars. In the
process of rebuilding the cars, there were a number of design changes. The
major visible changes were to increase the number of ribs from 9 to 11,
the replacement of the ends with Dreadnaught ends, and replacement of the
floor. The rebuild added significant improvements to the underframe, as
additional crossbearers were added and 4 rows of stringers were placed
between the crossbearers.
Beginning in 1968, Southern began selectively rebuilding these cars. At
this time, there were still 1,238 cars in service. However, due to the
rebuilding program the numbers from the original series began to decrease
rapidly. By April, 1973, there were less than 100 of the original number
series in revenue service, and the last car was off the roster by 1978.
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