--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, Richard Hendrickson <rhendrickson@...>
wrote:

On Feb 18, 2007, at 1:18 PM, Paul & Bernice Hillman wrote:
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Of course it's true that the car's build/rebuild date is highly
relevant to the period one's modelling and has to be considered when
purchasing, painting & building a model car.

To the bottom left of the car's side doors there's a date, IE) C.R.5-
43. What does that literally mean? I presume it's the rebuild date,
as "Car Rebuilt 5-43"
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No, that's a reweigh date. C.R. stood for Chicago Ridge, Mather's
main (and only) shop. Mather cars were sometimes reweighed and
restenciled by the lessors, or by some other RR if the car was
required by AAR rules to be reweighed when off-line, but cars leased
from Mather went back to Chicago Ridge periodically for maintenance
and repairs and were usually reweighed there if they were close to
coming due for reweighing. Since you model 1947, 5-43 is an obsolete
reweigh date; at that time, AAR rules required the reweighing of most
cars (except tank and live poultry cars) at 30 month intervals or
whenever repairs to the cars significantly changed their light weight
(e.g., truck or wheel replacement, replacement of K type air brakes
with AB equipment). Standard practice was to paint over the old data
and stencil the new reweigh station symbol and date over it (as well
as new light weight and load limit, if those had changed) – unless,
of course, the entire car was in need of repainting.

Richard Hendrickson