http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=504225&nseq=165

"Why does the Fruit Growers Express reefer have 'F.H.I.X.' reporting marks?"

Thanks. That changes my mind a lot about modeling cars with paint failures on the roof.
Should be a relatively rare exception given the sample in this photo.
Arved Grass

Arved, really? From a sample size of about 10 cars including one
nearly new reefer and 4 box cars that had unpainted galvanized roofs,
you would infer that roof paint failure was rare? The only one I'm
not sure about is that NYC box -- can't tell if the roof is original
or a replacement but the car has post-1955 paint.

The SP box car in the background originally had a painted roof -- but
it's all worn off except for the seam caps.

1958 is the start of "my era" of modeling -- Lots of shiny new cars
and plenty of older cars too. Great assortment in this photo!

The "FHIX" stood for Fruit Growers Express, High Insulation" -- there
were also WHIX cars for Western Fruit Express. These cars had 33% more
cubic capacity than conventional 40 foot ice reefers.

Tim

P.S. If you need some photos of roof paint failure I can send you some. :-)