Bill's right...........the O&W combines (mostly) that wound up on branch
lines were at or near the end of service lives, and most were quite antique and
still had gas lighting right through to the end. However, be careful since
some supposedly wretched cars were in better condition than others, as
replacements were often rotated through the roster; -- old, but newer cars replacing
the hand me downs that'd been in service a while and were worn out and ready
for scrap.

In some instances if branchline cars were kept in a yard for service only a
couple of days a week, on an extra "as needed." the local employees might have
undertaken their own maintenance. I've heard firsthand of a sympathetic
yardmaster (Norwich, on the O&W) in an outlying location, when there was no work
out on the main line or off on a connecting branch, rather than sending the
extra (or regular) crews home, would draw some cash, send the boys to a local
hardware store, have them buy some paint and set to painting the work outfit
and one or two of the combines regularly stationed in the yard. O&W combine
No. 247 always looked pretty good, when it was run and scheduled out of
Norwich.

Mal Houck



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