On Dec 5, 2013, at 1:04 AM, Scott H. Haycock <shhaycock@...> wrote:

What was the rationale behind even (or odd) only car numbering?

Scott, this keeps coming up on the list and, since no one else has responded to your query, I’ll answer it yet again.

This numbering system was practiced on a number of (mostly midwestern) RRs - e.g., C&NW, M&StL, Soo,CGW - and acted as an error checking device in the days when paperwork was actually on paper and was entered by human (and therefore fallible) car clerks.  Typically, box cars had even numbers, open top cars odd numbers, and if a number didn’t correspond with the car type, it was obviously wrong.

Richard Hendrickson