I received my Rapido NP boxcars and they are very nice.  Notice from their site that they are totally sold out of all including the unpainted.  Don't know how many but I find it interesting that a $50 (msrp) was totally sold out.

-- 

Jon Miller

For me time stopped in 1941

Digitrax  Chief/Zephyr systems, JMRI User

SPROG User

NMRA Life member #2623

Member SFRH&MS

Definitely ex-Wabash double-sheath cars rebuilt as steel-sheath cars.  They operated in revenue service as AA 1100-series cars then became MofW/Company Service boxcars.  Most were black as MofW cars but a few were repainted orange in later years, especially if they had special equipment or a specific use.  One was stenciled "Pettibone Car".

And ... now for something completely different ... check out the attached photo.  AA X4624 was a plain old black car used for company material storage at the Cadillac, Michigan freight house.  In 1972 the "Michigan Artrain" began operating and one of its first tours brought it to Cadillac where it would be parked next to that black boxcar at the freight house.  The local high school art class got permission to "spruce up" the site and they got to repaint the boxcar.  Both sides of the car had different artwork on it.  While sitting in Cadillac, it had no lettering on it.  Prior to being moved to Boat Landing yard at Elberta it was given the lettering shown in the photo that I shot in July 1976.  Ultimately it went to the AA shop in Owosso and was repainted in a plain oxide red scheme.

Craig Wilson
Sure would make an interesting custom decal project, wouldn't it?

Attachments:

• MWB40.AA4624.BoatLanding.July1976.jpg

Cool. I've never seen them marked that way. My kits were "Des Plaines Valley".

Tim O'Connor

These showed up in the store from a collection:

Bill Dixon

Attachments:
20181020_storzek kits.jpg: https://RealSTMFC.groups.io/g/main/attachment/159379/0

--
Tim O'Connor
Sterling, Massachusetts

These showed up in the store from a collection:

Bill Dixon

Attachments:
20181020_storzek kits.jpg: https://RealSTMFC.groups.io/g/main/attachment/159379/0

Thought I'd seek the help of all the freight car identifiers who seem to be out in force this week at solving what's proven to be a stubborn mystery. See this link for my Steam Freight Car blog post for the photos:
https://steamerafreightcars.blogspot.com/

Here's the text of the post:

The lead photo in this post is one of a series of shots showing a single Central Vermont freight. To date, I've managed to identify all the cars in this train, and have completed or started models of all of them with one exception. The pedigree of the car to the far right of the photo above has proven remarkably stubborn to uncover (it's shown in a cropped shot below).  I'd love to be able to identify this particular car. At one point thought I had. At this point I'm open to any and all suggestions and thoughts as to what it might be.

Here's what I do know:

• Based on the other cars, and some clues on the locomotives (there are two the road engine and the helper shown above cut in to the train) we know this photo was taken just after WWII (sometime between 1946-1950 or so). The end is certainly a flat plate end on the car in question - with what looks like a roof recessed slightly from the end.
• The reporting marks look like they start with an "L."
• Lettering is clearly serif (ie., "Railroad Roman")
• Car number appears to be 5 digits - first number has a strong vertical element - perhaps a "1", "4", or even a "7".
• I thought at first the reporting marks were "L & N", but couldn't locate any L&N cars that matched the other spotting features shown.
• I thought at one point it may be an Louisiana & Arkansas 1932 ARA car, since the ends certainly look like they would be a match to those cars.

Later that day I was thrilled when located an Atlas 1932 ARA car painted L&A for sale at a hobby shop in Wisconsin. Things were going well - too well as shortly after Ted Culotta rained on my parade when he pointed out it doesn't have a tabbed side sill like the L&A prototypes. Ted continued "I have this photo, too, and tried my best to determine the provenance of the car, but came up empty looking at my L&A and KCS freight car photos. I am stumped, but I'll keep digging..."

Perhaps the first initial isn't an "L" at all - but Ted and I have both done high-res enlargements of this photo and it certainly looks like an "L" with a space and another single letter.

I fully admit it's some sort of obsessive behavior to be trying to identify an otherwise nondescript boxcar from more than a half century ago. But that's prototype modeling....

Thought I'd throw it out on the table here and see what the collective believes this car to might be.

Thanks in advance,

Marty McGuirk

Rebuilt USRA DS boxcar indeed, but NOT Ann Arbor NOR Wabash. The LOVX plug door cars are a second rebuild of DT&I 11000-11299. The Cambre roof is the giveaway, as only the DT&I used it for USRA DS boxcar rebuilds.
Ben Hom

Bob Witt wrote:
"Here's the USRA rebulit with 5-5-5 ends."
Rebuilt USRA DS boxcar indeed, but NOT Ann Arbor NOR Wabash.  The LOVX plug door cars are a second rebuild of DT&I 11000-11299.  The Cambre roof is the giveaway, as only the DT&I used it for USRA DS boxcar rebuilds.
Ben Hom

A note to Al--Shared with the Group----

From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io [mailto:main@RealSTMFC.groups.io] On Behalf Of Fran Giacoma
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2018 1:33 PM
To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: [RealSTMFC] AAR Loading Rule for Flatcars info

Farming and road construction equipment are a necessity in the area I model on my HO layout depicting the B&O Shenandoah SD set in late September 1956. I have numerous industries that have sidetracks that can accept flatcars for unloading the equipment such as farm vehicles, graders, bulldozers, etc. 

Besides Ebay, online book sellers, and various railroadiana shows, any other places I should be looking for the AAR Loading Rules for Flatcars appropriate to my era?

Thanks.

Fran Giacoma