ワフ spotting differences

[Pashina12]

I did a bit of a study of the differences between ワフ guards vans to make a quick-and-easy spotting reference for identifying cars seen in photos if you can't see the number, and thought I'd share it here for anyone interested.

 

First thing to look for is the location of the side door, whether it's mounted at the end of the car and sliding open towards the centre of the car, or mounted at the centre of the car and sliding open towards the end of the car. Once you've got that, easy step-by-step to narrow it down.

 

If you have:

Side door mounted at end of car, sliding towards centre - ワフ21000, ワフ22000
>>> no ribs on door - ワフ21000
>>> 2 ribs on door - probably ワフ22000 - but possibly later ワフ21000, as cars numbered ワフ21700 or higher have doors with two ribs
>>>> 2 end vents - ワフ21000
>>>> 3 end vents - ワフ22000
>>>> 1 roof vent - ワフ21000

 

Side door mounted at centre of car, sliding towards end - ワフ29000, ワフ29500, ワフ35000
>>> 3 windows - ワフ29000 or ワフ29500
>>>> one larger box under car - ワフ29000
>>>> two smaller boxes under car - ワフ29500

>>> 2 windows offset towards door - ワフ35000

>>> 2 windows offset towards platform - ワフ29000, ワフ29500, ワフ35000

>>>> two cross beams under door - ワフ35000

>>>> one cross beam under door - ワフ29000, ワフ29500
>>>>> flare holder at platform end - ワフ29500
>>>>> flare holder elsewhere (between the windows, or inwards of the inner window) - ワフ29000

>>>>> one large box under car on other side - ワフ29000

>>>>> two smaller boxes under car on other side - ワフ29500

 

Summaries:

ワフ21000 - 3 windows; door at end of car (no ribs; number >ワフ21700 = 2 ribs); 2 + 1 roof vents (earlier just 1 roof vent but later rebuilt); flare holder by platform; 2 vents on car end
ワフ22000 - basically same as ワフ21000 but 3 vents on car end; all have 2-rib doors and 2 + 1 roof vents
ワフ29000 - 3 windows  on one side/2 towards platform on opposite side; central door  with 2 ribs, 2 roof vents offset towards platform end of car; flare holder between 1st and 2nd windows on 3-window side/on 2-w side between windows, or after 2nd window; 3 end vents; 1 large box under car on 3-window side
ワフ29500 - like ワフ29000 but flare holders at platform end on both sides; 2 smaller boxes under car on 3-window side
ワフ35000 - 2 windows - towards door on one side/towards platform opposite side; central door with 2 ribs; flare holder location varies both sides; 3 end vents; 2 large roof vents offset towards platform end; 1 large box under car on side with windows by door

 

Hopefully this'll be of a little interest to some of you, though I know I'm probably a little bit towards the extreme end of freight car nuttery...

 

 

[Pashina12]

Hm, another difference between the ワフ21000s and the ワフ22000s is that the latter has short axles, the former has long axles - on the 21000s, the journal boxes are noticeably farther away from the wheel than the former. But this isn't likely to be a feature that will be of much use in determining the identity of a car in a photo unless it's a fairly close-up end view, whereas my intent with the above was to help with identifying or at least narrowing down the types in photos taken from greater distances.

[Pashina12]

I just discovered that the ワフ35000s were rebuilt from ワフ25000 class cars, which looked considerably different - identical to the ワフ28000s, except the older 25000s were all steel, whereas the 28000s were the "war emergency" variant with a wooden body. All but 66 of the ワフ25000s were rebuilt to ワフ35000 specification between 1960 and 1965, and the unrebuilt ones stuck around until 1968, so I think I could get away with having one ワフ25000 show up on my layout on the rare occasion.

 

I'm realising I'm growing a fondness for these Wafus... :)

[marknewton]

I'm interested, and I'd like to thank you for your efforts. One thing in particular I'd like to ask about. You mention flare holders - can you expand on that? I think I know what you're referring to, but I'd like to know more. Are they the fittings discussed in this thread?

 

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

 

 

Edited December 15, 2017 by marknewton
Added link to another JRF thread

[Pashina12]

Yeah, those things. I *think* they're flare holders... but I'm going to find out exactly. I'll post when I've learned what they are!

[kvp]

Should'n these be the locations for the chimney pipes?

[Pashina12]

24 minutes ago, kvp said:

Should'n these be the locations for the chimney pipes?

 

How do you figure?

[kvp]

1 hour ago, Pashina12 said:

How do you figure?

I'm just assuming the roofs need vents for air and a pipe (usually with spark arrestor) for the stove. This was standard in the past for all cars with self contained heating/ventillation systems. Later electric hvac-s meant a diesel generator under the cars (for standalone operation) and ac boxes on the roofs.

 

(ps: i could be wrong here, but this seems logical)

[Pashina12]

The ワフs all had vents installed on the roof when they had their stoves fitted (a lot were built without stoves).

[Pashina12]

Yeah - it's a flare holder. The answer I was given was "信号煙菅が納められてます。"

[Pashina12]

And just got another confirmation with some further info, that they stopped being used after they installed radios into the cars.

[Pashina12]

And a further comment - that older JNR types like the 103系, 115系, and 201系 also had such flare holders.

[Kiha66]

Actually even modern trains have them, like the e233.

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/信号炎管

Edited December 16, 2017 by Kiha66

[marknewton]

Thanks to everyone for their input. I'd assumed that these fittings were for flares/fusees, but it's good to get confirmation.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.