Athearn Airslide

Discussion in 'Freight Equipment' started by Rick McClellan, May 17, 2010.

  1. Rick McClellan

    Rick McClellan 2009 Engineer of the Year

    I just bought the SP version of the new Athearn single bay Airslide hopper. This car means peanut butter sandwiches at least twice this week. It is well detailed model. I believe that the Frisco had some similar, if not identical cars, sooooooo (Bob) if you still have your contact at Athearn, I believe I have some SLSF Airslide slides I can forward to get this project underway.

    Please advise.
     
  2. Iantha_Branch

    Iantha_Branch Member


    SO is there any plan from Athearn two realse these in Frisco colors?

    I've always been confused about these, what are they for?
     
  3. Rick McClellan

    Rick McClellan 2009 Engineer of the Year

    Ethan,

    No plans that I am aware of but that doesn't mean we won't get any. I think we will especially if friscofriend is on the job.

    Airslide cars were for bulk commodities in powder form like wheat flour, cement and maybe mustard flour. These commodities tend to settle a lot in shipment making them nearly impossible to unload through normal hopper gates. The Airslide hopper uses compressed air pumped into the car's slope sheets (you will see the air pipes on the outside of the car next to the gates) to "fluff up" the flour so it will pour out the gates. Essentially, this process adds air to the commodity that was eliminated during the normal settling process that occurs in shipment.

    Here is a nifty url that demonstrates the process.

    http://www.decavibrator.com/air-slides.shtml

    Hope that helps.
     
  4. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Ethan - An Airslide is a covered hopper designed to handle solid materials that do not flow well, such as fine powders or materials that tend to cake up or bridge up.

    It looks like an ordinary covered hopper, but has a lot of piping along the bottom where the slope sheets and discharge gates are. During unloading, compressed air is hooked up to the car, and jets of air blow in to pads that line the slope sheets, thus aerating the lading in the discharge area and allowing it to "slide" out of the discharge gates easily. It slides because the air prevents the material from hanging up. Thus the name - "Airslide".

    We used a lot of them at the chemical company where I worked.

    Ken
     
  5. FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018)

    FriscoFriend (Bob Hoover RIP 4/12/2018) Passed Away April 12, 2018 Frisco.org Supporter

    Can do, but I need a good photo or two, or three, or four (Ah Shucks, you all get my drift).
     
  6. Friscotony

    Friscotony Member

    These are not exactly great shots, but were taken in Enid many years ago. If I did this correctly, here they are.
     

    Attached Files:

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