It does make you wonder why a chemical warfare base in Pine Bluff, Ark would want a wooden snowplough!!!!
Cheers
Barry Bennett
--- In STMFC@..., "Gene Green" <bierglaeser@y...> wrote:
I assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that this discussion was limited to freight cars in interchange service. Except for the brief listing
in
the 1954 ORER of two USAFX flat car series totalling 18 cars I have been unable to find any Air Force freight car listings in the
ORERs.
Since my collection if far from complete I may not have looked in
the
right place yet. If anyone has an ORER from 1955 or 1956 I'd appreciate hearing what is to be found therein on this topic.
There are and were many Army, Navy and Air Force freight cars for intra-plant use only. The various Army Ammo Depots used to have
lots
of them. In the case of Army cars they were marked USA instead of USAX (same as cars for foreign service). The Air Force could have had the same sort of thing but I don't know. I know the Navy had cars for intra-plant use only but I don't know how they were distinguished.
Over the years the military has purchased used freight cars and new freight cars. In the case of freight cars built new for one of the military services there is a cast metal plate that contains, among other things, the original reporting marks, Federal Stock Number, builder, date built and some other stuff. This plate was only on
one
side of each car. For those who come across former military
freight
cars in museums may I suggest that you look for the plate? My experience has been that the "Air Force" freight cars have USAX reporting marks on the plate. Like locomotive builder's plates, a lot of these plates have been removed by souvenir hunters (aka railfans).
Given that the equipment diagram of the "Air Force" flat car I mentioned in an earlier post is found in an Army Technical Manual I tend to regard the car as an Army car. I view the 1954 ORER
listing
as a fluke.
Ignore all those black locomotive with UNITED STATES AIR FORCE lettered on the sides. According to my contacts those are Army locomotives used by the Air Force.
