Ice harvesting & ice houses were also common on western lines before mechanical ice-making became common, especially with all the fruits & vegetables being shipped east from California. The Santa Fe

Here are a couple of all wood Mather stock cars that were leased by the Rock Island. The photo is circa 1917. Steve Hile

Bob; Thanks for that fabulous photo! Though out of our era, it has many details we can learn from: ladles were shipped this way from Pollock, on high and wide trains. Note the overhang of the

Mather applied for his first patent in 1880, and was leasing cars by 1883. By 1900 he had over 1,500 cars in operation. The company's first cars with steel side framing don't appear until around

Don Valentine asked: "Can't recall, when did Mather really get its start? This is the first Mather car I've seen that has not utilized commonly available steel channels, angles and such. It appears

Alum treated the surface water to removed solids, makes the water clear. Rich Chapin

Bob and friends, Also note the small lettering on the left door, "Unlock this door from inside". I assume that means that the right-hand door could be opened from the outside

If someone is seriously interested in ice harvesting it is still done on one day in February each winter on the pond at the center of Brookfield, Vermont, the same pond with the floating bridge, using

Hi folks, Can't recall, when did Mather really get it's start? This is the first Mather car I've seen that has not utilized commonly available steel channels, angles and such. It appears that

Well, those are some oddballs. Double straps at one end, single on the other. The opposed safety valves on the dome are common for STC and PTC, but the underframe isn't either of them. I wonder if

My hometown of Sterling MA had an ice house on the B&M line, and the ice was harvested from the local water reservoir ponds. I think this was quite common in the 19th century. -- *Tim

I compiled some info from Pennsylvania Tank Line's ORER entries the last time this topic came up: Pennsylvania Tank Line first appears in the February 1912 ORER with a picture of PTX

Packard -- ask the man who owns one. What a shame ti kise this company. Chris -- J Chris Rooney CFAVanness CompanyEmail: Vannessco@...Web: www.VannessCompany.com

Yup, Tony. Was trying to go from memory and forgot the 7!! It's tough being old .... thanks for correcting me. We SP nuts don't want do propagate misinformation. BTW the reason I'm particularly

Four photos of workmen harvesting ice from a ,lake. https://digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A147968/datastream/IMAGE/view Caption: Four pictures of men

Nothing definitive regarding the SP cars, but in the August 2001 Mainline Modeler there's a Nick Muff article on KCS baggage and express box cars 400-403 with drawings beginning on page 41. As seems

Another example of automobile loading. Note placard "UNLOAD FROM THIS SIDE" https://digitalcollections.detroitpubliclibrary.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A154147/datastream/IMAGE/view Bob Witt

The BE-50-24 steam line is not visible from the side in any photos that I have seen so I assume that it must be threaded through the cross bearers alongside the center sill.

Ken Roth wrote: Can't help with the steam line location, Ken, but the SP BX-50-24 cars were 5700-5749. Tony Thompson tony@...

Good Friends, Last month we were talking about coal trestles, and I mentioned a surviving one at the Montpelier estate near Orange, Virginia. This actually belong to the estate,