Bob Chaparro wrote:
"The first image shows track through the Homestead Mill complex on
the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad in April 1949. First of all,
this is a nice detail shot of the roof of Rock Island 25189. It also
shows the car number stenciled on the roof. This is something we've
seen occasionally on reefers.

It would be interesting to know what practices the various railroads
followed with respect to roof stencils at various points in time.
Here is the link to the image:
http://tinyurl.com/2d39fa

Bob, look again - the number is chalked on the roof. We discussed
this photo in February 2005; it's one of a group of accident
investigation photos. The car number has been chalked on the roof to
identify this specific car in the photos and is not indicative of
Rock Island practice. See Chris Barkan's post #38484 for more
details.


Ben Hom