There
are some interesting chalk marks on these boxcars. Some seem to have
consecutive numbers. I suspect they may be marked to spot
quickly.This
is an October 1927 photo documenting a replacement bridge project connecting
the Oakland and Bloomfield neighborhoods in Pittsburgh. It spanned a valley
and the Pennsy main line. An important B&O line is also in this image. The
boxcars are sitting on B&O rails, originally the Pittsburgh Junction
Railroad. Check them out for interesting weathering, chalk marks, route cards,
and weigh stenciling.
After the link opens, click the
View this Item link, or the image. Find the four buttons in the upper left
corner of the image and click on the left button to make the image full
screen. Zoom in at will to review the details. It's a nice size
scan.
https://historicpittsburgh.org/islandora/object/pitt%3A715.275224.CP
Those billboards are the only
clean things in this image.
Eric
Hansmann
Murfreesboro,TN
From:
main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
[mailto:main@RealSTMFC.groups.io]
On Behalf Of Bob
Chaparro
Sent: Wednesday,
November 14, 2018 10:40 AM
To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] CHALK MARKS
QUESTION #2
I found
information about chalk markings from a number of sources which I incorporated
into a clinic. Below are some of what I found.
Bob
Chaparro
Hemet, CA
++++
Markings could
communicate a variety of instructions and freight car
conditions:
Required handling
of a specific car or load
Condition of
equipment that needed repair
"OK" or a
check mark chalked over a truck to indicate a bearing had been
checked
Indication of an
item's dimensions
Notations about
car routings and interchanges
Track assignments
for individual cars
Outgoing train
numbers
Industrial siding
information
Customer
information
Assigned car spot
at a customer’s facility
Humping
instructions for cars switched in a gravity yard
Destinations
Car
contents
Perishable
instructions
“MT” for an empty
car
Whether the
shipment was all going to one consignee or where it should be first
delivered.
Fragile
freight
Special loading
and unloading instructions
Chalk marks were
not a universal language. Codes varied from yard to yard, railroad to railroad
and era to era.
To determine
which chalk marks to respond to, sometimes individual yard crewmen would make
their mark in one particular area so fellow crewman would know how to respond
to what might be a jumble of chalk marks. Or a crewman might take the time to
wipe off a mark and this occasionally is seen in
photos.
Here is how one
railroader described his work:
“I read the
destination cards stapled to the cars. We could determine where the various
blocks started and ended and then chalk the cuts. The other switchman marked
the cut positions using bold letters and arrows so we could find them in the
dark.
Doing this was far
better than standing next to the train looking at a list, trying to find a car
by its number.”
