Wheels of Time N 50135 General Purpose Flat Car, Conrail #715519

Conrail, PS 1960, ex-NYC Class 888-F, Stencil date 2-81

Conrail Class 888F flatcars were originally Pullman Standard PS-4 built in 1960 for the New York Central System. PC inherited its fleet and Conrail inherited it from PC. Conrail repainted their FM flatcars at the Altoona Car Shop until 1980, By 1981, the Hollidaysburg Car Shop did all the refurbishing of these Class 888F flatcars. On 4/80, only 2 cars had CR reporting marks. By 4/82, 53 cars had CR; 9 cars had PC; and 114 cars still had NYC! Wheels of Time is happy to reproduce these fine cars with the assistance from Jeff Lopez.

These 53'-6" flatcars were constructed with a welded fish belly steel frame in contrast to the cast steel GSI frame. The fish belly frame provided an optimal distribution of tension and compression forces from the center of the car to the bolsters. Think of it as a bridge. In addition, fabricating a welded frame was far less labor intensive than an equivalent riveted frame. The welded frame proved extremely durable holding up to rugged service. As these flat cars aged-out due to ARR interchange age limit, they found its way into many years in maintenance-of-way service. A number of builders constructed these flat cars such as the Pacific Car & Foundry (P.C. & F.), Marine Industries (Canada), Pullman-Standard, Bethelehem Steel, and including railroad car shops such as the Western Pacific.

They were designated as FM by the AAR mechanical people. They carried anything bulky that can't be placed in a box car - from finished lumber to machinery equipment.

Features:
Properly weighed cars for smooth derailment-free running
Proper ride height
Body-mounted knuckle couplers
33" metal wheels for smooth rolling
Internal steel plate so loads can be attached with magnets
Extra fine details
Sharp paint, lettering, car numbers to match the real thing
Multiple car numbers for fleet owners for realistic train operations