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NEW TOOLING in N Scale!!!
52'6" 15-Panel DENTED Mill Gondolas.

That’s right, these models are factory dented! The Lightly Dented versions have multiple deflections in the side sheets above the floor line. The Medium Dented versions have the side sheets visibly puffed outward between the rivet lines as countless small dings to the inside faces accumulated and stretched the sheets into rough domes. The Heavily Dented versions also have the puffed out panels but to a greater extent – plus many of the ribs have also been deflected outward. The concave dent detail on the inside faces matches the convex outside faces.

 

With the exception of specially equipped gons with timber saddles for carrying coils or other specially secured loads, mill gons began collecting dents with their first revenue load. This was expected and short of punching a hole in a side sheet (an extremely rare event) there would be no reason to replace a bulging panel. Even gons which have received a comprehensive servicing would receive a new coat of paint over their dented panels. The corrugations used on the car ends effectively resisted damage. As you can imagine, a steel billet that could punch though an end could potentially fall to the track below causing a catastrophic wreck, so heavy gauge corrugated steel ends were a must.

 

As a rule, the last time a mill gon had an unmarred paint job on the interior is when it left the factory. Even when they were repainted, spraying the interior was usually considered a waste of time and paint. In keeping with this practice these N scale models have a dull rust effect applied to the interior faces regardless of the outside color. These models feature diecast floors for superior tracking and plastic sides, ends, draft gear, body bolsters and additional brake gear. The cars come standard with our metal wheels and magnetically operating knuckle couplers. Variations include Dreadnaught or PS style fixed ends with Ajax end mounted brake housing and two styles of brake wheels; or drop ends from Dreadnaught or PS (or the identical Carbuilder’s ends) with end mounted lever action hand brakes or side mounted brake wheels as appropriate for each road name. Note we previously reported the minimum radius as 11" based on early designs but after a couple of revisions and with the sample cars in hand, we can report they will do 9.75" minimum radius. MSRP is $37.95 each. Pre-Orders have closed on items shown in RED. Pre-orders remain open at the time of the last website update for items shown in black. Delivery is expected in 2025.

Go to the Previous N Scale Batch...

Conrail inherited this style of mill gon in quantity from both Penn Central and Erie Lackawanna. Many had been built with drop ends but were rebuilt with fixed Dreadnaught ends and Ajax brake housings as seen here. 

52010   Conrail lightly dented #CR 522592  $37.95 

52011   Conrail lightly dented #CR 522723  $37.95

Lightly Dented.
Medium Dented.
Heavily Dented.
This view depicts the Dreadnaught fixed ends with the Ajax brake housing and IP80 brake wheel. This is the detail arrangement used on the Conrail and Burlington cars below.
Bottom view of the typical magnitude of the Light dents.
Couplers have been omitted in this view. Production cars have magnetically operating knuckle couplers.
Bottom view of the typical magnitude of the Medium dents.
This view depicts the PS drop end with the Ajax side mounted 3059 brake wheel.
Bottom view of the typical magnitude of the Heavy dents.
Note the deformed ribs on these Heavily Dented cars.
Concave interior dents match the convex dents on the outside face.
Concave interior dents match the convex dents on the outside face.
Concave interior dents match the convex dents on the outside face.

52014   Conrail medium dented #CR 522657  $37.95

52015   Conrail medium dented #CR 522738  $37.95

52017   Conrail heavily dented #CR 522606  $37.95

52018   Conrail heavily dented #CR 522570  $37.95

When Chicago Burlington & Quincy required another 750 mill gons in 1957, they chose to build them themselves at their Havelock, Nebraska shops. These cars were equipped with fixed Dreadnaught ends and nailable steel floors, the instructions for which are seen to the right of the Burlington Route logo.

52020   Chicago Burlington & Quincy lightly dented #CB&Q 82873  $37.95

52021  Chicago Burlington & Quincy lightly dented #CB&Q 83125  $37.95

 

52024   Chicago Burlington & Quincy medium dented #CB&Q 83008  $37.95

52025   Chicago Burlington & Quincy medium dented #CB&Q 82582  $37.95

52027   Chicago Burlington & Quincy heavily dented #CB&Q 82941  $37.95

52028   Chicago Burlington & Quincy heavily dented #CB&Q 82660  $37.95

Erie Lackawanna inherited these mill gons from Erie Railroad who had pioneered the design in cooperation with Greenville Steel Car in 1940. Under EL ownership, this batch maintained their Dreadnaught drop ends and lever action hand brakes. We present them in this run as they appeared in the last few years of Erie Lackawanna operations and the first several years of Conrail.

52030  Erie Lackawanna lightly dented #11676  $37.95

52031   Erie Lackawanna lightly dented #11720  $37.95

 

52034   Erie Lackawanna medium dented #11693  $37.95

52035   Erie Lackawanna medium dented #11715  $37.95

52037   Erie Lackawanna heavily dented #11642  $37.95

52038   Erie Lackawanna heavily dented #11788  $37.95

Great Northern took delivery of 200 of these gondolas from Pullman Standard in 1957 in the vermilion paint scheme. Although they used the Pullman’s fixed ends, GN opted for the ribs used on the original Greenville-Erie design. They also used the Ajax 3059 brake wheel instead of the usual IP80 design. These details are reproduced on this run.

52040   Great Northern lightly dented #GN 72856  $37.95

52041   Great Northern lightly dented #GN 72981  $37.95

 

52044   Great Northern medium dented #GN 72820  $37.95

52045   Great Northern medium dented #GN 72904 $37.95

52047   Great Northern heavily dented #GN 72873  $37.95

52048   Great Northern heavily dented #GN 72998 $37.95

Greenville built several batches of these mill gons for Nickel Plate Road over the years with details varying from batch to batch. This group outshopped in 1949 had Carbuilders drop ends and side-mounted Ajax 3059 brake wheels. The fleet was passed to Norfolk & Western with their 1964 merger.

52050   Nickel Plate Road lightly dented #NKP 67043  $37.95

52051   Nickel Plate Road lightly dented #NKP 67387  $37.95

 

52054   Nickel Plate Road medium dented #NKP 67120  $37.95

52055   Nickel Plate Road medium dented #NKP 67262 $37.95

52057   Nickel Plate Road heavily dented #NKP 67079  $37.95

52058   Nickel Plate Road heavily dented #NKP 67235  $37.95

Pittsburgh & Lake Erie took delivery of this batch of gons in 1946. P&LE had been a subsidiary of New York Central for many years but following the financial collapse of NYC successor Penn Central, P&LE, which was still profitable, began to distance themselves from PC including removing the “mating worms” PC logos. P&LE would remain nominally independent until 1993 when they were acquired by CSX. This paint scheme represents this period of independence.

52060   Pittsburgh & Lake Erie green lightly dented #P&LE 2689  $37.95

52061   Pittsburgh & Lake Erie green lightly dented #P&LE 2250  $37.95

 

52064   Pittsburgh & Lake Erie green medium dented #P&LE 2934  $37.95

52065   Pittsburgh & Lake Erie green medium dented #P&LE 2016  $37.95

52067   Pittsburgh & Lake Erie green heavily dented #P&LE 2473  $37.95

52068   Pittsburgh & Lake Erie green heavily dented #P&LE 2728  $37.95

This group of gons lettered for THE ROCK was originally built in 1957 by Pullman Standard. The cars were rebuilt in 1978 retaining their dented sides but with the original drop ends replaced with fixed PS style ends. The old lever action brakes were also replaced with new Ajax brake housings and wheels.

52070   The Rock lightly dented #ROCK 502402  $37.95

52071   The Rock lightly dented #ROCK 502478  $37.95

 

52074   The Rock medium dented #ROCK 502441  $37.95

52075   The Rock medium dented #ROCK 502496  $37.95

52077   The Rock heavily dented #ROCK 502435  $37.95

52078   The Rock heavily dented #ROCK 502457  $37.95

Frisco received this batch of gons from Pullman Standard in 1953 in this boxcar red scheme. They had PS style drop ends and lever action brakes, With Birmingham (the Pittsburgh of The South) on the Frisco system map, steel and related commodities were important sources of traffic. Many of these cars served well past the merger with Burlington Northern.

52080   Frisco bc red lightly dented #SL-SF 61893  $37.95

52081   Frisco bc red lightly dented #SL-SF 61628  $37.95

52084   Frisco bc red medium dented #SL-SF 61746  $37.95

52085   Frisco bc red medium dented #SL-SF 61770 $37.95

52087   Frisco bc red heavily dented #SL-SF 61809  $37.95

52088   Frisco bc red heavily dented #SL-SF 61635 $37.95

Although New York Central would build thousands of these mill gons in their own shops, this particular batch was built by Greenville in 1949. They used the Dreadnaught style drop ends and lever action brakes. This batch was also equipped with nailable steel floors (instructions for use are seen to the right of the road number.)

52090   New York Central lightly dented #NYC 713043  $37.95

52091   New York Central lightly dented #NYC 713078  $37.95

52094   New York Central medium dented #NYC 713002  $37.95

52095   New York Central medium dented #NYC 713035 $37.95

52097   New York Central heavily dented #NYC 713099  $37.95

52098   New York Central heavily dented #NYC 713020  $37.95

This view depicts the Carbuilders drop end with the Ajax side mounted 3059 brake wheel. This is the detail arrangement used on the Nickel Plate Road cars below.
The two sample cars seen here were hand built from test shots without the benefit of the assembly fixtures that will be used in regular production. So, pardon my slightly wonky corners.