Hello Brad,

Ben is correct. The circle star herald with the “The Famous Ma and Pa” cartouche did not make it onto boxcars until well after the time of this list. In the steam era MPA 1155, along with the rest of the MPA’s boxcars, would have been painted mineral brown with white lettering. There is no evidence I’ve encountered in studying the records that the MPA’s wooden boxcars ever carried the circle logo. That logo was first used on a bridge and later applied to caboose #2002 and the company’s diesel locomotives. Its use on boxcars began only in the 40’ steel boxcar rebuilding program that started in 1972. The MPA’s yellow boxcar lettering is also a post-1972 phenomenon.

It may or may not be relevant for your modeling purposes, but between 1939 and 1971 the M&P did not interchange its boxcars with other railroads.

All the best,

James

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James McDonald
Greenbelt, MD