Ed Mines wrote:
"My guess is the photo was taken early '50s, but how late? '52? '53?

There's a 40 ft. B&O box with a very wide door & an L&N car with
the "old reliable" slogan. Also a Southern PS1, box car with a
diagonal roof, "SantaFe all the way" slogan."

The L&N "Old Reliable" slogan places the photo no earlier than 1952.


"There are no Keystone shadow heralds which might help Pennsy men
date the photo."

What do you mean the lack of Shadow Keystones don't help me date the
photo? The absence tells me that it's pre-1954.


"There's a 40' PRR box car, maybe an X37A, with a light colored,
ribless roof. Was that roof unpainted (did PRR leave roofs
unpainted?)?"

Not in this era - note that the running board the same color of the
roof. Also observe that the rest of that car's paint and lettering
appears to be clean.


"The 50' car to it's right (X37B?) also has a ribless roof which is
darker than the side. Does this car have a black or car cement coated
roof?"

If it's 50 ft long, the car is NOT an X37 subclass - it's an X38.
It's entirely possible, as the lap seam roofs installed on the X29
and 1930s program boxcars leaked, and some cars had black car cement
applied to the roofs as a stopgap. It's also entirely possible that
it's a result of soot - remember, steam was still very evident on the
Pennsy during the early 1950s.


Ben Hom