I found a whole bunch of these near a copper mine. What are the lines/pipes for? These ex-SP cars all have this "plumbing" on the sides. The cars appear to be bottom-dumping? Can someone explain what this is? Thanks!
Looks like Copper Hoppers (pardon the rhyme). Copper Basin Railway (CBRY)? I know reporting marks don't match. ATW is Atlantic & Western isn't it?
Im gonna take a stab at it and say the plumbing is for air-powered dumping....(air opens a cylinder that opens the bottom of the car)
Pat, yes these are in a Copper Basin RY backwater track. Good detective work! The air dump theory makes sense. I'm still wondering why all the pipes back and forth? Are these lines on the sides a manifold, maybe connected to a series of cylinders? I'm sure those loads are darned heavy!
