On Tue, Jun 4, 2019 at 06:44 AM, William Hirt wrote:

According the Burlington Route Historical Society Freight Car Data Sheet on USRA Double Sheathed Boxcars, the USRA Double Sheathed Boxcars (series 120500-120999) built in December 1918 by AC&F were the last double sheathed boxcars the CB&Q purchased (Class XM-24). They were the only CB&Q boxcars built new with Andrews cast steel trucks. Other than resheathing in the 1930s and having a grab added to the left hand side of the car, not much in the way of visible changes were made to these cars (unlike other Q double sheathed boxcars). They kept their KC brakes until retired. They were all gone by the early 1950s.

That's interesting. The Soo Line "sawtooth" boxcars built in 1913,14, and 15 were all built with Bettendorf T section trucks, but the five or six cars that remain in preservation all ride on Andrews trucks with CB&Q cast in the side frames. Obviously a bulk purchase of used trucks to replace the troublesome T section trucks, but I always wondered when it was done. A search of the preserved Soo AFE files failed to reveal any large purchases of used trucks, but it may have just been described with the generic term as car material or some such. If these were the only CB&Q cars equipped with Andrews trucks, then any large reduction in their numbers would be a good indication as to when the trucks would have been available. Anyone have a retirement timeline for the Q USRA cars?

Dennis Storzek