Thanks, this is what I needed. I have the culprit (Branchline) half-
built and I realized all the photos I saw were the modified cars with
plain keystone. For the early 60s era, then, I'm in the clear.

Thanks also to the PRR truck list that shows ASF A-3 for these cars.

Ron Merrick


--- In STMFC@..., "Gatwood, Elden J SAD "
<elden.j.gatwood@...> wrote:

Ron;

Were the PRR X43C built with side sill tabs

Yes, just like other "standard" AAR '44 design cars.

and modified later to side sills that spanned from bolster to

bolster?

Yes, but there was also an intermediate fix that just spanned the

doorway

area fitted to some X43 cars

If so, roughly when did that program start and end.

From photos it appears that the full bolster-to-bolster side sill
reinforcement program began in very late '66 or early '67 (I do not

have my

photos here to check), and also involved removal of running boards

and some

ladder cut-downs. Cars were repainted into the then-current "Plain

Keystone"

scheme.

Were all the cars upgraded,

I do not know if the program was all-encompassing, but it sure

appeared to me

that the majority of X43 class cars got this fix. No, I do not

remember it

going into PC days, so the program may have only run through '67.

and were different styles of side sill reinforcement applied?

Yes, there was an intermediate fix applied that featured a

trapezoidal shape

reinforcement, but I will have to find a photo. I think there is a

photo in

one of the Morning Sun books.

For a car painted Shadow Keystone, which style would be most likely?

They may have applied the earlier fix to a car in SK lettering, but

I have

never seen one. All of the later fixes I have seen were repainted

in PK

lettering, since SK repaints ended in Dec of '61.

The X43 classes (X43 through X43C) were a disappointment to the

PRR. They

rapidly exhibited sagging and cracking problems, necessitating

these fixes.

The X43C was the worst, since they were often diverted into coil

service and

other uses involving forklifts, that contributed to the problem.

The PRR,

just a few years after buying all those X43 cars, decided to design

their own

class to follow, the X46, which featured a full-length side sill

made of

shallow channel, doorway stiffeners, and an extra side post above

the

bolster. These latter cars lasted until CR, while the X43 were

sold off,

some to companies like USRE, who refurbished them and sold/leased

them to

other RRs.

Elden Gatwood