Looks to be a load of used bedding from stockcars, ie manure and straw. The car is a drop bottom gon. Doug Harding www.iowacentralrr.org

... And then, Brian, maybe not. I can make out the lettering on the end as “PAINT ALT. M 5 53”. Now, that looks like a paint date to me of May 1953. Any suggestion? Bill Daniels Santa Rosa,

Jack wrote: “The correct name is "Safkar", made by the Irving Iron Works Co., Long Island City, NY. The open grid is formed by alternating straight and zigzag bars, all running longitudinally,

"Fresh fish" are a perishable, whereas "live fish" would be considered livestock. They need to be treated differently. CN ran fish in overnight passenger trains between Halifax and Boston utilizing

Question/guess: Could it be sheep’s wool -i.e. the bits from a packing plant? They used to send carcasses and offal in gons so . . . I find the half-track at this link pretty cool

Obviously a work train, probably unloading rail sections. John C. La Rue, Jr. Bonita Springs, FL

Grapes?

Hello, Just picked these new shippers guides from the printer yesterday. This is my first guide covering part of the southeastern US. It covers the Louisville and Nashville RR, all the way from

Lester Great job on this "redo" and I must say a bit intrepid to highlight the grating or expanded metal parts. BTW the useful tips on beauty swabs and the article right below this on on your blog

Hi Bob, Fresh fish to me means, live fish shipped in aeration tanks, in baggage cars for the kosher trade. For a refrigerator load, I assume you mean processed fish. Ted Schnepf 126 Will

The way that it drapes over the side of the car suggests a plant with strong branches: https://donstrack.smugmug.com/UtahRails/Emil-Albrecht-Photos/1946-Salt-Lake-City/i-RvgFS9p/A Gary

Much earlier since it’s a builders photo of a 1940 built X38. Great pic!! Brian J. Carlson

My now gone friend Jack Parker, who lived and breathed the Northern Pacific RR, detailed an O scale A5 NP brass Northern 4-8-4 back in the 1990s. He made the boiler running boards as exact as can be

Nice photo... is there one of the side of the car? And my attention was drawn to the two tenders (from class L1s?) in the background. Makes me think that this photo was taken in the early (pre SK)

It's a non-issue. I just dug in the trash and found one of the casting fill tube stubs I remove from Resin Car Works reefer, boxcar and auto car bodies after demolding. Photo attached. I snap these

Yes. The correct name is "Safkar", made by the Irving Iron Works Co., Long Island City, NY. The open grid is formed by alternating straight and zigzag bars, all running longitudinally, riveted

I had a concern with several of the early one piece bodies in that there was a groove between the send and the sides. This would happen with flat kits if the ends of the sides and the back of the

I have assembled many one piece body kits and have many still in kit form. I have never seen one with a "big blob of resin on the underside of the roof." Bill Welch

My answer: nothing. I've only recently started to encounter one-piece bodies due to my backlog, and frankly I welcome them. I've actually sold some flat kits when a different manufacturer made a

A quick question for the resin kit builders out there. Most of the kit manufacturers nowadays are using one-piece bodies for box cars, rather than flat wall pieces. In many ways I view this as a