Notes on 19th Century Freight Cars

In John H. White Jr.’s Book "The American Railroad Freight Car: From the Wood-Car
Era to the Coming of Steel" he writes about the first eight-wheel coal cars. On pages 156 to 158
he states, concerning the Mauch Chunk and Summit Railroad, which was a gravity railroad
founded in 1827, and owned by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, that...

“In around 1840 the Austrian engineer F. A. Ritter

Von Gerstner visited the property. He noted
that the cars were small, lightly built vehicles
weighing from 1,600 to 1,700 pounds each. The capacity
is given as 2 tons, which appears too great
and conflicts with the figure given in Lehigh Coal
& Navigation reports as noted above. Either Von
Gerstner's estimate was simply in error or the
managers of the switchback knew something
about car design that escaped succeeding generations.
Some twenty years after Von Gerstner's
visit, a German named A. Bendel inspected the
Mauch Chunk Railway.' The line had been remodeled
in 1844 with a second track and steam powered
incline planes for the return of empties,
but the loaded cars were still sent downhill by gravity. Both four- and eight-wheel cars were
employed
at the time of Bendel's visit (1859|. The
four-wheel cars then in use may have been an advanced
design over those introduced in 1827, but
there is no hard evidence to prove or disprove this
speculation. The car depicted in Bendel's drawing
is surely light and small |Fig. 2.2). It would hold
about 90 cubic feet of hard coal. Weight was given
as about 1 long ton |2,240 lbs.), capacity as about 2
long tons. One end of the car was hinged so that it
could be emptied by tilt dumping. The spoked 24-
inch-diameter wheels protruded into the body in
boxes. Note also the wooden brake shoes and large
brake lever. The body of the car measured 7 feet
long by 5 feet 3 inches wide by 40 inches deep. The
wheelbase was 4 feet.
The eight-wheel coal hopper was a larger version
of the four-wheel car; the wheels and braking system
were identical (Fig. 2.3). The body was 11 feet
6 inches long and had the same width and height
as its four-wheel counterpart. The wheelbase of each truck was 3 feet, while the overall
wheelbase
was 9 feet 6 inches. Weight and capacity were exactly
double those of the four-wheel jimmy. The
small winch and framework mounted to the top
of the car were for the continuous braking system.
A light wire rope connected the brake levers
on each car. The cable was wound up and released
by a brakeman seated on the plank that
spanned the open hopper. It would appear that the
plank, winch, and light iron framework were a
unit that could be mounted or unmounted as required
so that the brakemen could always be on
the last car of the train. The chain fastening suggests
this option. Just why the drum has two diameters
is not clear. The Delaware & Hudson Canal Company's mine
railway at Honesdale, Pennsylvania, in the northeastern
part of the state, was similar in many respects
to the Mauch Chumk line. It was a narrow gauge
(51 inches, in this instance) wooden tramway
built as a portage between hillside mines and a loose so that the car could more easily negotiate
curves. This scheme was devised by Horatio
Allen, a junior engineer whom Jervis sent to England
in 1828 to study the state of technology in
the homeland of railways.' These same cars were
briefly described in the 1832 edition of Nicholas
Wood's Treatise on Rail-Roads.^ The car's weight
was given as 1 ton with a capacity of 2.5 tons;
again, as with the Mauch Chunk cars, the weight to-
capacity ratio seems extremely optimistic. The
axle diameter was given as 2Vi inches. Von Gerstner
visited the line in about 1840 and found 350
cars in service.' All were four-wheelers except for
five double-truck cars. Drawings for a similar four wheel
coal car used on the Danville & Pottsville
Railroad are shown in Figures 2.5 and 2.6. In later
years the D&H adopted a 5-ton-capacity wooden
eight-wheel car (Fig. 2.7|. Photographs of these
cars, with their rudimentary wood-beam trucks,
show lettering on the frames that indicates a
weight of 5,500 pounds.”

“Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company Report Volume 12 - 1838.” This is found on page 46 of
the report, and page 337, in the .pdf.

BURDEN CARS.
The stock of freight cars of the different classes owned by the company is as follows: 314 eight
wheel, weighing about 5 and carrying 6 tons each—50 four wheel house cars, weighing 2 and
carrying 24 tons—57 cars for live stock, (24 of them divided by partitions for horses and cattle)
weighing 5 and carrying 6 tons—163 eight wheel gondola or box cars, weighing about 4% and
carrying about 8 tons—62 four wheel box cars, weighing 14 and carrying 24
tons—24 eight wheel bolster cars for lumber, weighing 24 and carrying 7 tons—30 eight wheel
stone cars, weighing 3% and carrying 7 tons—25 four wheel stone cars, weighing 1% and
carrying 2 tons—12 eight wheel platform cars for hauling iron, weighing 4 and carrying 7
tons—4 eight wheel cars for fire wood, weighing about 34 and carrying 8 tons—one iron
eight wheel cylinder car for general freight, weighing about 6 tons and carrying 8
tons—one four wheel iron cylinder car for carrying gun powder, weighing about 2
and carrying 24 tons—201 six wheel iron hopper coal cars, weighing 23 and
carrying 73 tons—one eight wheel iron hopper coal car, weighing 34
and carrying 84 tons—one four wheel iron hopper coal car, weighing 2 and carrying 5
tons—and 37 wooden hopper coal cars, weighing 3 and carrying 7 tons—making 606 eight
wheel—238 six wheel—and 139 four wheel cars—and a total of 983 cars of all classes—and
6832 wheels.-These cars are used indiscriminately upon the Main Stem and Washington branch,
as they are wanted on either road, although a separate account of repairs is kept for each.”

American Six-Wheel Freight Cars

"The American Railroad Freight Car: From the Wood-Car Era to the Coming of Steel" says on
page 551 that regarding the use of iron coal cars...

“IRON COAL CARS OF THE I84OS

What influence these overseas developments had on American car design is difficult to
determine. Some happenstance exchange of ideas surely took place, but it was not until rather
late in the nineteenth century that organizations like the International Railway Congress began to
encourage the systematic study of railway engineering on an international basis. Whatever
inspired interest in the subject, both the Baltimore &. Ohio and the Philadelphia & Reading
began to produce iron coal cars in the 1840s. The Reading started first, in 1843.-' Within a year it
had 856 small four-wheel iron-body wood-frame coal cars in operation.
These were not all-metal cars; only the bodies and hardware were iron. No drawings from this
early period exist, but visual material from the following decade has survived.”

I have found an earlier reference to Iron coal cars.

“Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company Report Volume 12 - 1838.”

Page 46 (In the .pdf it’s page 337)

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Annual_Report/FlUaAQAAIAAJ?kptab=editions&sa=X
&ved=2ahUKEwiX6uin7_3qAhWERxUIHaTxBesQmBYwAHoECAUQBw

“201 six wheel iron hopper coal cars, weighing 23 and

carrying 73 tons...”

Regarding the B&O’s use of six wheeled iron coal cars of any sort. John H. White Jr, on page
557 of "The American Railroad Freight Car: From the Wood-Car Era to the Coming of Steel"
states:

“The first of Murray's six-wheelers was mentioned in the 1844 annual report of the railroad as an
improved sheet-iron car of cylindrical form, which cost $340 and weighed only 2.5 tons yet
offered the astonishing capacity of 7 tons. The next report mentioned that thirty iron cars were on
order. The 1846 report listed 201 six-wheel iron hoppers in service.”

“Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company Report Volume 18 - 1844.”

https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/DVQaAQAAIAAJ?gbpv=0

Page 29 (In the .pdf it’s page 27)

“The estimates submitted to the House of Delegates adopted a car of a wood frame, costing three
hundred and eighty dollars, weighing three tons and carrying seven tons of coal. In the improved
car, subsequently invented and now adopted, sheet iron, in a cylindrical form, is substituted for
wood, costing three hundred and forty dollars, weighing two and a half tons and carrying seven
tons of coal.”

In John H. White Jr.’s Book "The American Railroad Freight Car: From the Wood-Car Era to the
Coming of Steel" . On pages 168 to 169 he states, concerning six wheeled cars...

“While the great majority of railway mechanics were content with the changeover to
eight-wheel cars, a few independent-minded builders sought a more novel plan. Lewis J.
Germain of Catskill,
New York, patented a design for a six-wheel undercarriage on May 7, 1839 |No. 1,145). The
wheel sets worked together on the radial-axle plan to assist in going around curves. The idea was
tested but made no progress beyond that elementary level of success.
A more determined friend of three-axle cars appeared in the person of James Millholland
(1812-1875), a prominent railway master mechanic.
Early in his career he was appointed mechanical head of the Baltimore &. Susquehanna Railroad.
Sometime in the early 1840s Millholland decided that six-wheel cars were a worthy compromise
between the old and new styles of freight car. In its published report for 1843 the B&S reported
having twenty-nine new six-wheel
cars in service. They weighed 8,500 pounds, earned 12,000 to 14,000 pounds, and cost only $450
each. On September 23, 1843, Millholland obtained a patent (No. 3,278) that contained a
description and drawing of a boxcar already in service. The body measured 14 feet long by 7 feet
wide. The wheelbase was 8 feet, the wheels were 33 inches in diameter, and the white ash
springs, another of MillhoUand's ideas, measured 12 feet long, 7
inches wide, and 2 inches thick. The wooden leaf spring IS perhaps the most novel adaptation of
a cheap native material for car-building purposes. In the patent specification, the car's weight is
given as a mere 7,200 pounds, which is very light for a
car of this size.
More six-wheelers had been built by the time Millholland left the Baltimore &
Susquehanna for the Reading; the B&S had 81 six-wheel freight cars in a total fleet of 377
cars.^'* There were also three passenger cars built on this curious plan. Millholland had no
success in convincing his new employer of the merits of the hexapod, although the Reading
applied thousands of his wooden springs to four-wheel coal cars. Only the Baltimore & Ohio
showed much interest in developing the six wheel freight car. It produced several hundred iron
coal cars on six-wheel undercarriages, which are described and illustrated in Chapter 8.

On page 557 of "The American Railroad Freight Car: From the Wood-Car Era to the
Coming of Steel" Mr. White writes...

“The Murray car was surely serviceable, but its capacity was limited. The western Maryland
mines were shipping coal in ever-increasing amounts, and the B&O wanted a 10-ton hopper car.
Winans's idea was adopted. An experimental eight-wheeler was produced in 1846, according to
the annual report for that year. It weighed a sane 3.5 tons and carried 8.5 tons. Two
more were produced in 1850. By the following year seventy-three were on the property, and very
soon the eight-wheelers would outnumber the now old fashioned Murray cars. By 1855,
according to the annual report, there were 774 eight-wheelers in use. The number of six-wheelers
began to decline.
Within ten years only ninety-six were running, and the eight-wheel fleet had grown to about
eleven hundred. All of the Murray cars were retired over the next few years while the eight-wheel
fleet continued to grow.”

This is all that John H. White Jr. Mentions about six-wheel freight cars, but there is more
history of their use in the United States than what is contained in his seminal work.

A financial crisis beginning in the fall of 1853 proved a severe embarrassment to the Baltimore
& Susquehanna and associated railroads, and on March 10, 1854, the Maryland legislature
authorized the Baltimore & Susquehanna, York & Maryland Line, York & Cumberland, and
Susquehanna Railroads to merge, writing off its investment in the lines in exchange for a
mortgage on the new railroad. Construction halted on the Susquehanna RR. The Pennsylvania
legislature authorized the merger on May 3, and articles of consolidation were signed on
December 4 (filed December 16, 1854), forming the Northern Central Railway Company.[1]
Henry Varnum Poor (1900). Poor's Manual of the Railroads of the United States. 33. New York:
H.V. & H.W. Poor. p. 703.

Six wheeled freight cars continued, to a degree after the merger of the merger of the
Baltimore & Susquehanna, York & Maryland Line, York & Cumberland, and Susquehanna
Railroads.
 Sources
“American Railroad Manual for the United States and the Dominion
Containing Full Particulars of the Mileage, Capital Stock, Bonded Debt, Equipment, Earnings,
Expenses, and Other Statistics of Railroads, as Now Built and in Process of Construction,
Together with a General Railroad Map of the United States and the Dominion, and Individual
Maps of Each State and Territory : Also an Epitome Or Brief History of the Charter Under which
Each Road was Originally Constructed ... and an Official Railroad Directory ... · Volume 2"
By Edward Vernon · 1874

https://www.google.com/books/edition/American_Railroad_Manual_for_the_United/9U4tX97g
WGUC?hl=en&gbpv=0

Page 243 in the .pdf

CENTRAL RAILROAD COMPANY OF NEW JERSEY

191 6-wheel Iron and Lime Cars.

18 6-wheel Wood-Rack Cars.

During the year the following additions have been made to the car equipment: there have been
purchased 2 passenger
cars, 270 4-wheel coal cars, and 50 6-wheel iron cars. There have been built in the
company's shops 50 box cars, 12 work. train flat cars, and 1 iron car, all 8-wheeled, and 2
4-wheel coal cars. The following changes were made: 2 first-class passenger cars were changed
to combination cars; 1 first-class passenger car, I second-class passenger car, 16 6-wheel
iron and
lime cars, 142 8-wheel coal cars, 1 6-wheel wood-rack car, and I 8-wheel flat car,
have been broken up or destroyed.

“Annual Report of the President and Directors of the Northern Central Railway Company to the
Stockholders” By Northern Central Railway Company.” 1870

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Annual_Report_of_the_President_and_Direc/NqUpAAA
AYAAJ?kptab=editions&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi3qba9nYLrAhXPzTgGHcE1CusQmBYwAHo
ECAMQBw

Page 528 in the .pdf

NORTHERN CENTRAL RAILWAY COMPANY.
OFFICE OF THE GENERAL MANAGER ,
PHILADELPHIA, February 13, 1877.
To the President and Board of Directors of the
JENTLEMEN :
The following statements, embracing the result of
the operations of your Main Line between Baltimore and Sun
bury , and the branches and leased lines operated in connection
therewith , are respectfully submitted.

Page 539 under Freight Equipment

1876
6 wheel main. Of way cars, number: 7

1877
6 wheel main. Of way cars, number: 2

Annual Report of the President and Directors of the Northern Central Railway Company to the
Stockholders
By Northern Central Railway Company · 1879

Page 61 in the .pdf under Freight Equipment

6 wheel main. Of way cars, number 1

“Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company to the
Stockholders
By Lehigh Valley Railroad Company” · 1865

https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/zScnAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjRn5_
7o4LrAhX4g3IEHWgWBzQQ7_IDegQIARAE

Page 24 in the .pdf

2 six wheel House Cars

Page 135 in the .pdf

51 six-wheel platform cars

“Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company to the
Stockholders
By Lehigh Valley Railroad Company” · 1870

https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/PMs-AQAAMAAJ?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjptsWEpoLr
AhVKhXIEHeLBBugQ7_IDegQIARAE

Page 15 in the .pdf

51 six-wheel platform cars

Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company to the
Stockholders
By Lehigh Valley Railroad Company · 1871

Page 16 in the .pdf

Six-wheel Platform Cars, 100

Annual Report of the Board of Directors of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company to the
Stockholders
By Lehigh Valley Railroad Company · 1880

https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/acs-AQAAMAAJ?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiF36PcqoLrA
hUzhXIEHafuAYgQ7_IDegQIARAE

Page 24 in the .pdf

November 30, 1879

Six-Wheeled Platform Cars 100

Six-Wheeled Caboose Cars 1
“Manual of the Railroads of the United States - 1876-77 “

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Manual_of_the_Railroads_of_the_United_St/rqyuUi0qsp
kC?hl=en&gbpv=0

Page 568 in the .pdf

CENTRAL RAILROAD) OF NEW JERSEY.

Rolling Stock

iron and lime (6-wheel), 214

Annual Report of the Directors of the Old Colony Railroad Company to the Stockholders
Volume 6, Parts 1869-1872
1869

https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/M2r2uIQxXhYC?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiq067XroLrA
hVNgnIEHRfGC_MQ7_IDMAl6BAgGEAM

Page 54 in .pdf

25 six-wheel stone cars.

Report of the President and Managers of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Co.
To the Stock Holders
January 14, 1861

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Report/Pxk-AQAAMAAJ?kptab=overview&gbpv=0

Page 200 in the .pdf

1 six-wheeled Tank
Page 280 in the .pdf

1 six-wheeled house car

Page 346 in the .pdf
And in use on Mine Hill Railroad
1 six-wheeled house car

Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company Report - 1883

https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/VRtRAQAAMAAJ?gbpv=0

Page 487 in the .pdf

Six-wheeled lime cars, . . . . . . . . . 47

Page 491 in the .pdf

six-wheeled ore cars, . . . . . . . . . 250

Page 507 in the .pdf

1 six-wheeled merchandise car repaired.

Page 667 in the .pdf

6 six-wheeled merchandise cars built.

117 six-wheeled merchandise cars repaired.
Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company Report - 1886

https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/dRtRAQAAMAAJ?gbpv=0

Page 55 in the .pdf

31 six-wheeled ore cars.

Page 63 in the .pdf

Six-wheeled lime cars, . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Six-wheeled ore cars, . . . . . . . . .250

Page 81 in the .pdf
234 six-wheeled merchandise cars repaired.

Poor's Manual of Railroads - 1869

https://books.google.com/books?id=1OZk2xAuKhUC&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Page 140 in the .pdf

Richmond & Danville Railway

coal (6-wheel), 51; and service, 11)

Poor's Manual of Railroads - 1871

https://books.google.com/books/about/Poor_s_Manual_of_Railroads.html?id=T9tQ1TTvX98C

Page 126 in the .pdf

Rolling' Stock.—Locomotive engines, 25. Cars—passenger, 17 ; baggage, mail,

and express, 8 ; freight, (box, 125, and platform, 64,) 189 ; and coal, (6-wheel,) 49—total,
264. Also, 5 road and other service cars.

Page 412 in the .pdf

CENTRAL RAILROAD OF NEW JERSEY

Roiling Stock.—Locomotive engines—Anthracite-burners, 106 ; and wood or soft

coal-burners, 11—total, 117. Passenger cars—1st class, 84 ; 2d class, 18 ; and smoking,
11—total, 113. Baggage and mail cars, 15 ; and express, 3—total, 18. Freight cars
(8-wheel)—box, 140 ; stock, 20 ; platform, 146 ; gondola, 45 ; and caboose, 2—total, 353.
Freight cars (4-wheel)—box, 16 ; gravel, 122 ; and caboose, 47—total, 185=(8-wheel,)
921. Iron and lime (6-wheel) cars, 108= (8-wheel,) 82. Coal cars—(8-wheel,) 697,
and
(4-wheel,) 924—total, 1,621 =(8-wheel,) 1,159. Total of all revenue cars, 2,404, or (rated
8-wheel,) 1,817*.
The Official Railway Equipment Register Volume 13 - 1897

https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/ZOk4AQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Page 203 in the .pdf

Lehigh Valley Railroad System

Flat, 6-wheel.........1901 to 1935

Lime, 6-wheel.........2249 to 2250
Page 243 in the .pdf

Boston & Maine Railroad

6-Wheel Platform (stone)....................25000 to 26949

The Official Railway Equipment Register Volume 17, Issue 2 - 1901

https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Official_Railway_Equipment_Register.html?id=AS
QqAQAAIAAJ

Page 150 in the .pdf

Lehigh Valley Railroad System

Service and Maintenance of Way, (4 and 6-wheel) 414

Page 155 in the .pdf

THE CENTRAL RAILROAD OF NEW JERSEY

Coal, 6-wheel...................... 01222 to 01488

The Official Railway Equipment Register Volume 23, Issue 2 - 1907

https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/5R0qAQAAIAAJ?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj20_70zILrA
hXyg3IEHUBpD6gQ7_IDegQIARAE

Page 138 in the .pdf

Lehigh Valley Railroad Continued

Service and Maintenance of Way. (4 and 6-wheel)......................388

The Official Railway Equipment Register Volume 32 - 1916

https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/SQE5AQAAMAAJ?gbpv=0

Page 273 in the .pdf

Service and Maintenance of Way. (4 and 6-wheel)......................2

After The Official Railway Equipment Register Volume 32 - 1916 they cease to appear.