Make a thinned batch of rubber cement. (I forget what the thinner is, acetone or alcohol or something.) Then "paint" the rubber cement over the lettering that you want to stay pristine. Step 2,

Gatwood, Elden wrote: Sounds like it could work, but obviously this is a tough challenge. Maybe only do the most severe weathering on cars you letter yourself. Tony Thompson

Garth Groff wrote: No argument. This type of car goes back to the 19th century, when they were primarily used for beer. There is a photo of one in the PFE book, Chapter 3. There was

Group, We recently had a discussion on what % home cars were in home yards which also covered what cars would/could be seen and where. I have a photo postcard c.1910 which shows "Spuds" being

Brian Paul Ehni wrote: "RB" - No commodity assigned for #15300-15498 series. Tim Gilbert

That's what I would do, or do a wash and blot the wash up over the lettering with a Q-tip. Ned

Tony, Bunkerless refrigerator cars, or insulated boxcars. The same thing, aren't they? As I noted earlier, there are also numerous "insulated boxcars" or "bunkerless refrigerators" in these CNW

Not having the ORER handy, what's CNW 15334 classed and assigned to? -- Thanks! Brian Ehni

Tony; What would you recommend for a pre-lettered car? Could one weather heavily, and then grit-blast off some of the weathering over the lettering? I have done this on other subjects, but not a

In the January 1938 ORER, the C&NW had 102 RB Bunkerless Reefers in the #15500-15798 series (even #'s). These dimensions were 39' 2" IL; 7' 5" IH; 2,393 cubic feet capacity. They were used for Wet

Gatwood, Elden wrote: This appearance, of vivid white lettering on a dirty car body, is visible in many steam era photos, and is sometimes attributed to chalking of the white, which sloughs off

Brian Paul Ehni wrote: How about the "RB's" - Bunkerless Refrigerator Cars? With express trucks, however, the Mechanical Designation could have been "BM" - Baggage Milk Car if in passenger service,

All; What I find interesting about the PRR hoppers is that these were cars painted in the rather red Freight Car Color of the time; nevertheless, these cars are a range of pretty dirty brown-black to

Brian Ehni wrote: Plug doors go back to the 19th century and signify nothing about roof hatches that I can think of. Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA 2906

Looking closer they seem to have express trucks, too. -- Thanks! Brian Ehni

Any ideas what service the car on the track closest to the camera are designed for? Seems odd to have plug doors on a box car with no roof hatches. -- Thanks! Brian Ehni

Bruce Smith wrote: But in that era there were no insulated box cars (well, there were; they were called refrigerator cars). Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA 2906

The letters "X" are found on the doors of some CNW boxcars in the foreground of this link: <http://memory.loc.gov/service/pnp/fsac/1a34000/1a34600/1a34660v.jpg>. and in the background of this link

After a little searching, it turns out that the message was Dec 17, 2004, the book was "Decade of the Trains" and the "lister" was none other than listmeister Mike Brock! He said, "Apparently the "X"

a source This statement was made in Don Ball's Decade of the Trains - 1940s, and is wrong. I think it was in this else This is correct. The cars were in dedicated service between CNW freight