Rolling stock: Gondola (CB&Q 41101)

A gondola is a general use car that typically carries bulk loose materials that don’t need protection from the weather. The raised sides prevent bulk materials from shifting and falling out, and provide structural strength as well. 

CB&Q 41101

Detail showing the drop-end panel folded down.

CB&Q 41101 is representative of a mid-century gondola, and would have likely been built around 1955-1965. This example is a drop-end gondola, where the end panels can folded down or removed when it is helpful in loading or unloading cargo. This gondola also came with a cover for use when transporting loads that needed to be protected from the weather. That won’t get much use here as the primary purpose for this gondola will be transporting beverages.

Gondola with the lid on top

In service as it was intended to be, carrying a beverage a thirsty customer.

CB&Q painted their gondolas in bright Burlington Red, also referred to historically as Chinese Red, and many of these red gondolas have survived until recent times which means lots of pictures are available online. Below are external links to a few pictures that show CB&Q gondolas at work:

• Here’s a picture of CB&Q 83287 with the lid on, and has a very close resemblance to mine.
• The gondola in this picture is so beat up and covered in rust that you can barely tell it is CB&Q. In the background are red CB&Q and a green BN boxcars.
• This one has been sidetracked so long that small trees are growing out of the bed. Note the BN piggyback cars in the background.
• Here’s a CB&Q gondola that’s been painted Cascade Green. I like this picture as there are two BN boxcars plus an SP&S boxcar in the background.
• And finally here’s a picture from 1963 showing a CB&Q gondola hauling a load of passengers! Only rail fans would do this without a moment of hesitation.

With the fine weather this weekend, the shop work moved outside as I worked my way through a backlog of bad orders.