PRR Freight Car Trucks

The Pennsy used over 70 different type of trucks under their freight cars. Trying to identify the various classes and determining which trucks to place under freight car models can be challenging. Hopefully these pages will help make this task easier.

Classification:

To keep track of the various types, the PRR devised a classification system for them. The following table explains the classification system:

Interpretation of Classification

Symbol	Refers to
First	Number of axles per truck
Second	A.A.R. Class letter for journal dia. only (see below)
Third	Dash-for standard A.A.R. axle number-for numerical deviation from A.A.R. standard
Fourth	Service of truck. F=Freight, P=Passenger, T=Tender
Fifth	Consecutive design of truck for class
Sixth	Modification to truck design

A.A.R. Class	A	B	C	D	E	F
Journal size (in.)	3-³/₄x7	4-¹/₄x8	5x9	5-¹/₂x10	6x11	6-¹/₂x12
Capy. per axle	15000	24000	32000	40000	50000	60000

Note: AAR Class C, D, and E trucks were generally used under 40, 50, and 70 ton cars respectively.

Truck lists:

Thanks to Ian Clasper, Tom Olsen and Bob Johnson, here are several PRR documents ranging from the 20's to the 50's that list many of the truck types, and which classes of PRR cars they were used under. They are similar, and each contain a summary of the PRR truck classification system, and listing of truck classes with a summary of their features and the car classes they were used on. Early tracings cover freight, passenger and tender trucks, but they were split out into separate tracings later on. All of the files are in .pdf format and some have also been converted to html tables.

PRR Tracing D70003-B, Passenger Cars, Freight Cars and Tenders, Trucks, Classification. Superceedes tracing F67685. Initially issued 6/5/1922, this is revision B dated 1/8/1923. From the collection of Bob Johnson. (pdf file)
PRR Tracing D74604-F, Passenger Cars, Freight Cars, & Tenders, Trucks, Classification. Superceedes tracing D70003. Initially issued 2/13/1924, this is revision F dated 2/6/1929. Also available is revision H dated 3/17/1932. Revision H has the freight cars crossed off as they were moved to tracing E-98401. Both are from the collection of Bob Johnson. (pdf file)
PRR Tracing #E-98401-A, Freight Cars, Trucks, Classification. Supersedes D-74604 (for freight cars only). Initially issued 3/30/1932. This is revision A. Note that passenger trucks remained on tracing D74604. (pdf file, 147K) Also available is Revision D, issued 6/27/1939. Revision D is from the collection of Bob Johnson (pdf file)
PRR Tracing #E-417453-B, Tenders, Trucks, Classification. Supersedes D-74604 (for tenders only). Initially issued 7/12/1939. This is revision B dated 6/5/1945. Note that passenger trucks remained on tracing D74604. (collection of Rob Schoenberg pdf file, 198K)
PRR Tracing #C422800-D, Freight Cars, Trucks, Classification. Superceedes tracing E98401. Initially issued 11/11/1940. This is version D dated 3/10/1947. Note, I have proofread this, but you can view the pdf file (300K) to be sure. Collection of Tom Olsen, scan by Ian Clasper. Also available is revision E issued 2/6/1950. Note that the quality of the original was very poor on this one! Rev E is from the collection of Bob Johnson.
A Typewritten truck list - This is a later truck list, it's undated but the highest listed drawing number is 462008 (2F-F2L) which was drawn on 3/28/1962 which dates it to sometime shortly after March of 1962. I have no information about the source of this list... Thanks to Bob Johnson for help in dating this! (843K pdf file)
A.C.S. Sketch 482 - contains a listing of various truck types, with tracing numbers, and part numbers for various components. Also has a listing of which trucks were used under a small subset of freight car classes, including car number information. (A.C.S most likely stands for Altoona Car Shops.) The cover sheet which would have had the issue date is missing but is appears to be circa 1949. Thanks to Bob Johnson for helping to date this! (Note that this has not been proofread yet!) (570 K pdf file)

PRR Tracing #B417536-A, Passenger Cars, Trucks, Classification. Revision A, issued 7/8/1939. This has passenger cars only. Collection of Bob Johnson. (1Mb pdf file)
PRR Tracing #B437742-B, Passenger Cars, Trucks, Classification. Originally issued 5/15/1947, this is revision B issued 7/9/1949. This has passenger cars only. Collection of Bob Johnson. (1Mb pdf file)

I'm looking for other truck listings to add here. If you have one that you're able to share, please e-mail me!

Diagrams:

Please contact me if you know where I can find more of these!

A collection of truck blueprints from Jim Kinkaid

2D-F1	Diamond Arch Bar
2D-F2	Crown
2D-F10	P.R.R Type
2F-F1	Crown
2E-F2	Crown - general arrangement drawing, collection of Gene Deimling (.pdf file)

More diagrams are here!

Modeling:

HO scale so far
Help! If you can correlate any model trucks with PRR classes, please let me know!

PRR Truck Class	Description	Manufacturer	Part #	Notes
2A-F5	Caboose trucks	Bowser	74013	-
2D-F1	Arch Bar	Bowser	74326	shipped w/ early H21/H22 kits
2D-F3	Andrews/USRA	Intermountain	?	shipped w/ USRA gon, kit #41608
2D-F8	PRR Type w/ coil spring	Bowser	74277	Shipped w/ F30, GS, GLa kits
2D-F8	PRR Type w/ coil spring	Red Caboose	5009	-
2D-F8	PRR Type w/ coil spring	Kadee	517	-
2D-F8	PRR Type w/ coil spring	Sunshine Models	TM7	-
2D-F12	PRR Type w/ coil/elliptical springs	Bowser	74190	Shipped w/ X31 kits
2D-F12	PRR Type w/ coil/elliptical springs	Sunshine Models	TM6	-
2E-F2	Crown Cast	Bowser	74091	Shipped w/ later H21/H22 kits
2F-??	100 Ton truck	Bowser	74256	Shipped w/ X43 kit
?	ASF A-3 "Ride Control"	Kato	31-601	-
?	Barber S-2 Roller Bearing	Kato	31-602	-

More Coming soon

Other sources of truck information:

Martin Loftin did an article on PRR freight car trucks in the 6/93 Model Railroading. It's focuses on the development and usage of the 2D-F8, 2D-F12, and 2D-F19 trucks that his Sunshine Models makes HO scale models of.

Richard Hendrickson wrote an article in Volume 4 of The Railroad Prototype Cyclopedia. about freight car trucks in general. He briefly goes through freight car development and describes the major types.

U.S. Freight Car Trucks and Related Details, 1900-1999 John Bruce's overview of freight car trucks and available models in HO scale.

Standard Car Truck Company web site - Manufacturer of freight car trucks. Manufacturer of Barber-S2 trucks. Check out their maintanence manual for info on today's trucks.

A.S.F. (American Steel Foundaries) web site - Manufacturer of A.S.F. Ride control trucks. Another good source of info on modern trucks.

Help!
If you have any information of PRR freight car trucks that isn't found here, please share! I'm looking for PRR freight truck tracings, photos of various clases of trucks, and other PRR truck listings. E-mail me at robs@railfan.net!

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©1998-2018 Robert Schoenberg - robs@railfan.net