What is a Betendorf underframe?  I've seen ARA AAR USRA underframes . . . . but this description is new to me.

       A product of the Bettendorf company, naturally. A one-piece I-beam, cut so that it would taper toward the bolster -- a bad plan, as it turned out, as the SP among others found fatigue cracks emanating from that cut. Photos of same are in my SP freight car books regarding several car types which had these frames, including flat, box and auto cars.

Tony Thompson             Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA

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Publishers of books on railroad history