These models are sold in one, two, three, four and six packs. They come in three different flavors -
- Gunderson/PACCAR 100-Ton Flat Side
- Gunderson 100-Ton Deep Rib
- Gunderson/FMC 100-Ton Shallow Rub
The deep rib car is avaiable with either an end-mounted brake wheel or a a side-mounted brake ratchet. There was also one run of UP cars with a side mounted brake wheel. That wasn't new tooling though, they just drilled holes in the sides and added the brakewheel over the top of the ratchets.
Generally speaking, Deluxe Innovations split production of their models between the US and China (just how much of what was done where varies by model and production run). DI went out of business in 2017 and the tooling for these cars was subsequently acquired by Fox Valley Models in 2018.
Deluxe also sold woodchip loads in 3-packs -
Here's what Deluxe had to say about the "deep rib" version -
Wood chips are used to make paper, and particle board and sometimes even burned as fuel. Ironically, for decades wood chips were burned as waste by sawmills who had no use for them. It wasn't until the fifties that they really began to be viewed as a commodity. Railroads solved the problem early on by adding high sides to gondolas, or can-opener-ing boxcars (cutting the roofs off and welding up the doors). While this worked for a while (some of them are still in service), there was a need for something stronger and bigger. Originally developed in the late 60's by Gunderson Brothers, this design class would see service from coast to coast. Gunderson often licensed the design to builders like Magor, Maxon, Ortner, and others. These builders would add their own twists, but the design would stay basically the same. The deep rib gondolas have sides that are slightly sloped to make unloading by rotary dumper a little easier. The ends are also hinged at the top (opening like a big garage door) so the car can be unloaded by tilt table (like a dump truck) or the end can be propped open and the car can be unloaded by skip loader. Although the sides are sloped, the ribs are not, which means the ribs seem to get deeper from the top of the car down. The 100T deep rib woodchip car had the rigidity to withstand being upended on a lift, and emptied through the swinging doors at the end of the car. With the first version of the cars, built for the Northern Pacific, there was only one end door, with a high mounted brakewheel occupying the other end. This necessitated having the cars in the correct orientation for switching. When the UP ordered cars, Gunderson Brothers was asked to have the cars open from both ends. Union Pacific ordered many of the cars, some with ratchet brake handles and some with a side-mounted brakewheel. In the southwest and the southeast, similar designs were in use for the Western Pacific, the Southern, the CSX, and others. Not all of the cars were in railroad service, as not all of the cars were in railroad service, as several paper manufacturers owned their own cars.
The models feature all of the appropriate end detail including top hinges on both ends. The brake "wheel" on most releases is actually a ratchet arm rather than the traditional wheel although in some instances (such as our second Union Pacific run) a wheel is used. These cars come with the appropriate 100 ton Roller Bearing trucks. The immense size of these cars make them a real head turner when mixed into a normal freight train. Most of these cars are still in use. Some of them have been sold or repainted into new owner schemes. The Northern Pacific cars are still working on the BN- some in their original paint, some with the roadnumbers painted out and repainted for BN, some fully repainted into Cascade Green. Also, NP cars have been sold to several other roads, like the D&NE who painted out the NP markings apparently with a roller! These sturdy steel cars will be joining their more modern counterparts serving the paper manufacturers and woodchip burners well into the future. In the meantime, more uses for these large cars are coming up all the time. Out of Los Angeles, you regularly see these cars carrying shredded aluminum up to a location in Montana, for an as yet undetermined use. They are also used in recycling service. One thing you will never see is one of these cars loaded for coal. While the proverbial "pound of feathers vs. pound of lead weighs the same, they don't take up the same space. If one were to fill one of these cars with coal, you would likely never be able to move it!
The deluxe innovations Gunderson Deep Rib 100T Woodchip Car accurately represents the prototype with ribs that are deeper at the bottom than they are at the top. MUCH deeper! In fact, we were stymied for months on how to actually print this car. Eventually, we came up with a now patented methodology for getting ink onto these cars to accurately represent the prototype. The cars come with a sprue of crossbraces for the top that allow you to add them if you are running empty. The cast resin loads that we offer make it so these braces are not required. As with all deluxe products, the braces are molded in a color that is most useful for the model as built. The underside of the car continues the ribbing apparent on the sides, and the brake gear reversing lever actually protrudes from the side of the car, as it does on the prototype. If one were to wish to model the end doors as opening, they come as a separate piece to facilitate this. Cutting down the ends, and making an opening door requires one extra set of door molding, which are available from the deluxe factory. There are two end variations available, one for the early Northern Pacific prototype, and one for the standard prototype. The NP version carries the High Mounted brakewheel on a fixed end, and the standard version carries end doors on both ends. The NP sides are clear of all brake hardware, and the standard version has a side mounted ratcheting handle. In addition, we have produced the UP side mounted brakewheel version, which was built at the request of the UP car foreman. NP also had this version of the car, and several are still around, some even repainted for BN!
Here's what Deluxe had to say about the "shallow rib" version -
Time Marches On! The railroads asked for a new design that was faster to unload, and didn't require as much shaking of the car, and FMC responded. When the Southern Pacific came calling to suppliment and replace their gigantic fleet of diagonal braced wood sheathed cars, FMC developed the roll over version of the woodchip car. This car was to be unloaded in a new universal rotary unloader that eliminated the tilting lift track, and required far less time to unload the cars. It was almost automated! The car still was built for capacity, and also built with bracing that keep the huge expanse of steel sheet from buckling. It became a billboard for the forest products industry. Both Gunderson and FMC built this style of car which has straight sides and therefore a uniform rib depth. These cars have solid ends and can only be emptied by rotary dumper, vacuum, or clamshell. They are used by a number of railroads and private owners from British Columbia to the forests of Georgia and northern Florida and is a particular favorite of the former Southern Pacific (many of which would be transferred to Golden West in the 80's and 90's.) Santa Fe took a slightly different route with their supplier, Paccar. They specified a double sheathed car that appeared to be smooth on the outside. This car had a similar dimension to the FMC outside braced car, but was slightly heavier. It seems the ATSF engineering department was worried about all that metal buckling under heavy use. These cars roam the system to this day, and Golden West, BN, Apache, Chatahoochie Industrial, Georgia Pacific and many others have these or extremely similar cars.
Because the side sills bear much stress in addition to the center sill, these gondolas sit lower on their trucks than their Deep Rib compatriots. The fixed ends allow the brake wheel to be mounted in the traditional location of the "B" end of the car. The shallow rib chip gons are a bit over 60' long and have a capacity of 7452 cubic feet. This brings up the issue of the size of chip gons in general. Like the Twin Tub Coal Gons, these cars are designed to carry 100 tons of payload only 100 tons of wood chips take up much more space than 100 tons of coal. As a result, it is common for chip gons to be labeled "load wood chips only" to avoid any confusion that would seriously damage an expensive piece of equipment. Since chip gons often move in groups, deLuxe produces each road name in several road numbers. Major railroads are traditionally released in singles and 6 packs, and smaller roads and private owners are released in singles and 3 packs. When appropriate for the prototype, lettering details such as consolidated stencils (the twin black and white boxes,) and ACI tags (the 4 color "bar codes") are printed on the models. The car is a single piece casting (no need to model an open door here!) with the characteristic deep notched ends in place. The interior of the car is equipped with ever so tiny load supports so that your cast resin load (made for deluxe by Dick Billings at Fine N Scale Products) won't slip down inside the car. Many of the cars are painted with the white "Excessive Height" marker on both ends. They feature a low mounted brakewheel on the "B" end of the car.
As with all of our cars, we offer the Smoothside and Shallow rib chip cars in both undecorated and dimensional data only versions. These releases are handy when you want to roll your own! The undecorated cars can be used to paint in any color for virtually any paint scheme your heart desires. There are a number of decal sets that have been released for the car, and others can be made from sets for other cars. The dimensional data cars are very useful for those doing a fleet of cars for their home road, private road, or other project fleet. The cars are painted and printed with the dimensional data and the consolidated stencil. That's right, the hard work is done! Add a road name, reporting marks, and off you go! There have been three new owners of this style of car in recent years due to used car sales and mergers. You can help us make these new paint schemes. We are currently looking for photos of the following shallow rib chip gon paint schemes: Canadian National (purchased from Chattahoochie Industrial. Some have only the road numbers repainted. We are looking for cars completely repainted into CN with the logo.) BNSF (former BN cars.) UP (former SP cars.)