Thought members would enjoy this interesting excerpt from the Fort Madison, Iowa Evening Democrat - December 18, 1919

USE OF PATENT CRACK FILLER FOR CARS SUCCESSFUL

The test of the Baco combination which was recently introduced on the railroads for use in freight cars to stop small grain leakage has been carried on for some time by the Santa Fe and is said by the local employees of the company to be a success in every way. In composition it contains a very large percentage of tar mixed with a small percentage of other and unknown ingredients

The method of procedure in the case of mending car floors and sides is to place a considerable quantity of “Baco” over a fire to reduce it from a lumpy stiff mass to a simmering ebony liquid in which state it is poured along the seams and tiny openings in the car floor to make the car grain proof.  The loss in grain leakage in freight cars is said to be considerable, several bushels dropping out of a loaded car while in transportation."

Michael Gross

Pasadena, CA

Correction. Just found some with "A" next to door, but these all seem to be older cars
with Andrews trucks. Brian Ehni

As I was reviewing photos of Northern Pacific box cars in the 15000 to 17899 series of 1937 built box cars I find an "A" or "B" rather than the more common "L" or " R" next to the door on the left side when facing the side of the car.  I am wondering if other railroads used the "A" or "B" next to the door?   And, am I correct when I guess these letters mean the "A" or "B" end of the car?

Lester Breuer

Follow this link for photos of what I write about below: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8y4p742064c0o1c/AAB_qJ8Z2LFmy0OYT-AN15ZPa?dl=0

I have been working on improving two Atlas 1932 ARA steel boxcars, one specific for the Erie, the other destined to be I-GN, a subsidiary of the Missouri Pacific, currently focusing on the doors and door guides. To begin with to my eyes the Atlas doors are anemic in their detail and too generic to be accurate for these two models while the door guides are overstated and not anything like those on the prototypes. I used various dimensions of Evergreen styrene strips for the door guides along with strips made from 0.005 sheet styrene along the top. The darker Grey door is Tichy #3018. Three doors are needed to get a complete door. The bottom section is actually the top section of the Tichy door turned 180 degrees. Similarly to model the door for the I-GN car I turned an InterMountain Superior door from their 10- 6" kit upside down but only one splice was necessary meaning I needed to cut-up just two doors. As one photo shows, the Erie model required me to cut and sculpt the lower sill to create the proper look plus add a new tab. I thought modeling the see-through effect along the lower door guide was important. Aiding me in getting more accurate doors is the fact that neither door used obvious door roller fittings but rather the more rare Creco "Ball Bearing" system. (see Speedwitch's 1932 book for more info and photos.) The upper door stop on the I-GN car was harvested from a Tichy Steel Rebuild kit where it is not needed. At this point I consider these two doors as DRAFTS because I think I do better on my next round. I used the extremely thin and very sharp CMK saw blades to cut the doors into sections: www.cmkkits.com

Bill Welch