The CB&Q supplied both white and yellow chalk. Probably whatever was cheaper
when the storehouse had to re-stock. The sticks were round, about an inch in
diameter, and must have been either 4" or 5" long.

What to put on a car? Unless you have a detail photo of one car you are
trying
to model just about anything will work. While they would only make sense to
the
yard where the cars were marked there were some common Railroad language
terms.

Some common suggestions: Rip, Weigh, Scale, Pit, Dock, Hole, Team, East,
West,
North, South, the initials of other Railroads, any kind of number.

There were some fairly standard abbreviations for Railroads. At least in the
Chicago area:

CB&Q = Q
CMStP&P = St Paul
IHB = IHBelt semi-officially, also Harbor
NYC = C
PRR = Pa
AT&SF = SF or SFE
EJ&E = J

When checking cars or making up lists it was common to drop the "X" from the
end of frequently seen car initials. As in:

FGEX = FGE
BREX = BRE
WFEX = WFE
CRLX = CRL

Russ