----- Original Message -----
From: Ray Breyer
To: STMFC@yahoogroups.com
Sent: 11/13/2009 8:47:40 PM
Subject: Re: [STMFC] Chicago & Illinois Midland Mather Cars(?)

Morning Sun Books new work on the
C&IM has a July, 1960 picture at page 121 of 2 forty
foot boxcars, 500 and 501, that appear to be Mather cars now
with welded side sheets, retained wooden doors and wooden
end beams over metal sheeted ends. The caption offers
no assistance identifying the cars: "Although superficially
similar to the 8000 series Mather box cars the C&IM
leased for may years, the two cars are dimensionally
different in every dimension except the width of the door
(6ft.). The 500 series cars appeared on the roster after the
Mather car lease expired in July of 1956. Numbered 500
to 506, they were 40' long with a 40 ton capacity.
Rebuilt from older composite cars, they retained their wood
doors.....The cars were used for LCL service to local
stations along the mainline." The trucks cannot be
identified in the dark shadows under the car.
gary laakso

Hi Gary,

Richard Hendrickson identified these cars as ex-Erie 71000-71999 series rebuilds, and provided me with a clear photo of Erie 71497. The car has a build date of 12-1923, and a reweigh of 8-1941. Checking the 1935 ORER shows that these cars were just coming on line. The 1945 ORER shows the number series as 71000-71567. The closest Erie diagram book I have to this time span is 1957, and that number series isn't listed at all.

These cars were never Mathers cars, showed up only after the C&IM dropped passenger service in 1953, and were never carried on the roster as revenue cars, so I have no idea how many there were. I've got a color photo of C&IM 602 pulling one through Pekin in 1954, but that's the only photo I have of these cars.

Hope this helps!
Ray Breyer




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