On Apr 22, 2022, at 10:48 AM, Dennis Storzek <dennis@...> wrote:

On Thu, Apr 21, 2022 at 08:00 PM, Matt Goodman wrote:

Hi Dennis - hopefully the attached helps. 

Matt,
Actually, I was trying to help you out. Forty years ago I did patterns for this car, and at that time I looked at a lot of photos, and the few remaining prototypes. One of the things I recall is none of the photos, other than the builder's photos, had the original roofs. They were built with outside metal roofs identifiable by the cast clamps that held the end of the seam caps. These predated the introduction of "flexible" metal roofs, and appearantly didn't hold up well. Unfortunately, the enlarged photo is not clear enough to see whether the car has these clamps.

No great loss, because, subsequent to my requesting a larger photo, I remember being in one of these cars in Marquette, MI where a building materials dealer was using it for storage. On the side plate over the door along with the original NYC number was stenciled, "NEW ROOF APPLIED E. ROCHESTER" and a date in 1922. I recall thinking at the time that it was unusual that a six year old car should need a new roof, but does help explain the lack of in-service photos with the original roofs. Anyway, that early date just happens to match your earliest date of use of the sign, so even if we could see the roof, it would prove nothing. Sorry.

Dennis Storzek