1958 sheet steel 2

[trainguy]

Just curious,

Can anyone guess at what grade of carbon steel sheet was typically available in 1958-1960 in the US? This is for an educated guess, in lieu of testing an actual sample.

Application - rail car side frame built by Pullman Standard. Sheet was 0.075 thick, spot-welded to 0.12 thick stiffeners.

Thanks.

tg

 

[stanweld]

Most likely AISI 1006 to 1010.

 

[swall]

Kind of a long shot, but it could also be Cor-ten. USS was looking for Cor-ten applications back in those days. Some hopper cars were made from it.

 

[blacksmith37]

That sounds a little early for Cor-Ten and T-1; but that was a target use , transportation equipment. There was no AOD, etc , so carbon ran higher, like 0.15 to .20 .
A guess, Inland was a major sheetmetal mill in the area; Maybe something is searchable for Inland.

 

[unclesyd]

The big Pullman Plant in Bessemer, Alabama used steel from the Fairfield Works of US Steel. They were using HSLA steels from US steel and I think they switched to HY-80 for some components some where around the time frame you are interested in. My cousin worked there as a welder during this peroid and I remember him mentioning welding problems with the new steel at the time. If I recalled they switched to Hy-80 as soon as the Navy released it.

I try to contact him to see what steels they used and when.

 

[unclesyd]

I spoke with my cousin (worked for Pullman)who stated that they used mostly AISI Steels,1020-1030, with a few forgings that required preheat during welding. He also stated that that they never used any HY80 or T1 except on some test cars starting in the the late 60's.

He also said that there are actual blueprints of some the cars made during that time peroid and could possibly be found in books on model railroading. He said that he has seen prints of some of the cars they made prior to switching to making only boxcars in the shop.

You might also want to look around the AISI site.

http://legacy.steel.org/source/Orde...tinue=1&SEARCH_TYPE=find&StartRow=1&PageNum=1

 

[trainguy]

unclesyd,

Another star for you. I don't recall if I gave you the first one, but what the heck...

Very helpful.

tg

 

[unclesyd]

Why didn't I think of that?

Somewhat related to the subject.

http://www.forestnet.com/TWissues/MarchApril08/NewLife.html

 

[swall]

I have also seen flatcars used as ramps for piggyback loading. The front set of trucks was left in place, on the track and the rear of the car was set on the ground. That was in the '60's, before all of the specialized equipment was devised to lift the trailers onto the cars.

 

[unclesyd]

You may want to checkout the "Railway Prototype Cyclopedia" if more information is required. Also the B&O Historical Society has a lot of information that may be of use.

http://rpcycpub.com/

http://www.borhs.org/index.ht