Don Winter Railgon (GONX) Steel-sided, Mill Gondolas

Model Manufacturer Info

Manufacturer:

Don Winter

Manufacturer ID:

172

Prototype Info

Style:

steel-sided, mill

Year/Era:

1980

Length:

54'

Volume:

2434cuft

Road Name:

Railgon (GONX)

Class:

Notes:

The Railgon Company was formed in 1979 as a subsidiary of the Trailer Train (TTX) company, to produce a unique-design gondola. These were built by five different companies, namely Bethlehem, Berwick, Greenville, Pullman-Standard, and Thrall (calling these Thrall gondolas is, therefore, not necessarily accurate). Between 1980 and 1981, 4,000 cars were built. While the "pool" consisted of 135 railroads, by 1982, these cars were mostly stored and not used due to an economic downturn. Railgon went bankrupt in the late 1980s, but many railroads continued to use the cars.

Model Info

Gauge:

Introduced:

1980

Product Type:

metal kit

Finish:

unpainted

Wheels:

not included

Couplers:

not included

Decals:

not included

Magazine Article:

The S Scale Resource, Jun 2016, pg 38 (building the kit)

Magazine Article:

The S Scale Resource, Apr 2017, pg 9 (completing the build)

Notes:

The kit only includes a simple one-page instruction sheet. Don Winter was an O-scale manufacturer, and this was his only S-scale kit. G&W Models announced their release of the Railgon decals at the time of the release of this kit (used on the models in the photos).

The S-scale steel-rod load steel was manufactured and sold by JWD Premium Products.