Todd,

This was discussed in some earlier posts. Briefly, the photo evidence
indicates that most cars appear to have Youngstown doors after ~1955,
but there is a photo from 1952 of an M-53 already with a Youngstown
door. >
Trying not to confused the facts, but it appears from photo evidence
that the when the M-15 wagon-tops received new AAR underframes in ~1955
they also received new Youngstown doors. A speculative suggestion would
be that the use of replacements doors on the M-15 wagon-tops led to a
door replacement program for the class M-53.

The circle "T" indicates that the box car is suitable for l.c.l.
(less-than-car load) service, which was named "Time-Saver Service" on
the B&O. That usually indicated that the box car was suitable for class
A loads.

Bob Witt


Todd Horton wrote:

Does anyone know if (all of the cars had)Â and when the doors would

have been replaced? The Springs Mills site shows in service pics of cars
with Youngstown doors on all of them. One other minor detail, what's the
"circle T" designate? Todd Horton

________________________________
From: rwitt_2000 rwitt_2000@
To: STMFC@...
Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2011 8:27 PM
Subject: [STMFC] Re: Fox Valley (and ExactRail) B&O Wagontop



Â

Andrew,

I just checked the Spring Mills Depot web site and they don't imply
their special run from Fox Valley is sold out. You can check with

them.

http://www.springmillsdepot.com/M53_status.htm

Also there is another run from Fox Valley due first quarter next year.
The B&OHS will have a special run of unique numbers so keep checking
that site as more details become available. http://borhs.org/

For an Exactrail, I would try to get a kit as I believe the door is a
separate part.

Regards,

Bob Witt

Andrew wrote:

Hi,

Like John Degnan, I model 1957. I have seen photos of my
modeling area (eastern Ontario) that indicate B&O M-53
boxcars were an occasional visitor--though not as common
as B&O open hoppers with soft coal for industrial customers.

Photos I've seen of M-53 boxcars in my area and time period
all have the Youngstown doors, not the Tatum doors.

I missed out on the Fox Valley run of M-53s earlier this year
but am interested in possibly getting one of the ExactRail
models. I notice ExactRail isn't offering a version with the
Youngstown doors.

Any guesses on the likelihood of ExactRail doing a future
run of these cars with Youngstown doors and later period
lettering schemes? Alternately, what would be a good
aftermarket Youngstown door to retrofit onto one of the
upcoming run of ExactRail models?

Regards,
Andrew

--- In STMFC@..., "rwitt_2000" rwitt_2000@ wrote:

Tim,

I forgot to add that I observed a M-53, ~1960, in a long line of

bad

ordered B&O box cars in Caseyville, Illinois. It still had Tatum

doors

one, which was off its tracks was lying on the floor of the car. I
believe it was the first time I saw a XLT door. As you suggest, it

is

possible that some M-53s made it to the late 1950s still with

their

Tatum doors.

Regards,

Bob Witt

Tim O'Connor wrote:

Thanks Bob. Since my modeling -begins- with 1955 I'll be waiting

for

the cars with replacement doors... but maybe an XLT will slip in

there.

I have 6 photos and/or Xeroxes of photos of M-53 and 1 M-53A

all

still

with their Tatum "XLT" doors. Most are from the Anderson,

Barkan

and

King Collection. The re-weigh dates range from 12-45 to 3-55.

The

paint

schemes range from the early "13 Great States" to the late "13

Great

States" as described in the Barkan document. The re-weigh dates

from

the

1950s include 1950, 1951, 1952 (2), and 1953.

The last is a shop photo at Mt. Clare of a M-53 wearing the

brand

new

"Billboard scheme". It was common for the B&O to do samples at

their

"mother shop", Mt. Clare in Baltimore, before changes were

released

system wide.

Based upon photos its appears the doors were replaced beginning

in

the

mid-1950s.

Bob Witt

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