Wooden Tora series identification?

[velotrain]

Does anyone know what series this is - it has two types of doors, maybe for varied cargoes.

 

Perhaps the vertically hinged doors could be a later addition?

 

 

http://livedoor.blogimg.jp/ef651036love/imgs/8/5/85a651e9.jpg

 

 

When I clicked on Visit Page in Google, it took me here - but this car is not shown on that page.

 

 

http://kagatetukki.blog.jp/archives/cat_1263487.html?p=2

[VJM]

This is a TOMU car, not a TORA.

 

TOMU 1 was manufactured in 1929 for the Tsugaru railway.

[velotrain]

It looks like the mainstream manufacturers never tackled this, as I'm only finding a discontinued white metal kit.

 

 

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10332846

 

 

 

Popondetta has made a TOMUFU, but not the TOMU 1 / 16000.

 

[kvp]

Looks like a pretty rare design in Japan, while sharing some similarities with ep2 european cars, mostly early E series. Btw. the central door could be used when loading from a high platform and there is no space to fold down the sides.

[velotrain]

I'm not surprised that there weren't many of them, or that contemporary modelers have little interest in them.  I also get the feeling that those modeling earlier eras may generally work in HO; they're also likely older and have more space and income, which allows them to model in HO. 

 

I was thinking this particular car would be appropriate for HO, as the larger scale would allow modeling the wealth of detail on the prototype, while this would need to be compromised in N scale.

 

I can also imagine an O scale contest model of this car, built by a master modeler using real wood.

 

Thanks for the suggestion for one reason supporting two doors - I had thought that the center door was much more typical of European rolling stock, or two doors per side on longer cars. 

 

I also found it interesting that the entire side didn't hinge down, only the bottom three boards - although I think a major (sole?) reason for that is to provide stability for the middle doors.

Edited January 25, 2017 by velotrain

[Jcarlton]

I suspect that this an all around work gondola.  The center doors are for working with trash and stuff around stations, just load the trash right through the doors as well as dumping small loads of ballast.  It's also easier to push stuff through the doors like barrels of spikes and fishplates.  The drop sides are for spreading ballast. 

Edited January 26, 2017 by Jcarlton