This certainly does not look like a bulk oil facility to me. BTW, St. Johns is a Portland neighborhood, right at the confluence of the Willamette and the Columbia, on the east bank of the Willamette.

Claus, what makes you think it’s a bulk oil dealership? The tanks are awfully big compared to the many, many photos I have seen of such dealerships in the steam era. The numerous wood barrels would al

It’s useful to remember that car cement didn’t just come in black (its original color). By WW II, it was also available in BCR. Tony Thompson tony@...

I have a good one, Bill, but am away from home this weekend. Tony Thompson

Charlie Vlk wrote: Gee, all this time I thought your list (Atlas, Athearn, Con-Cor, etc.) were legacies too. Tony Thompson tony@...

Charlie Vlk wrote: Or maybe you would want to talk to Kadee instead. C’mon, Charlie. Tony Thompson tony@...

Dennis Storzek wrote: Very good summary, Dennis. I would agree with almost all of it. The one point missed is that the railroads not only disliked the extensive private fleets, effectively competing w

Thanks, Guy, for the details on this. Tony Thompson tony@...

No new ones after 1934, old ones banned from interchange in 1937 (or was it 1938?), See the Billboard Reefer book by Hendrickson and Kaminski. Tony Thompson

Allen Cain wrote: Always remember that the primary issue addressed by the “ban” on billboard schemes was the provision by the leasing company of free advertising paint schemes for their lessees. And a

I’d be interested in your list, George. Can’t seem to reply off-list. Tony Thompson tony@...

Guy Wilber wrote: This data is well documented. But there is an SP lettering drawing, with a note for the removal of the bars in late 1952, noted as “recommendation discontinued.” Both SP and PFE drop

I love your subject line, Dave. Larry was quite a storyteller and had a million reminiscences (hopefully more factual than the one you sent, but maybe less fun as well). In later years, I have often r

Presumably prior to the formation of Colgate-Palmolive-Peet. Nice Wikipedia article on that topic. Tony Thompson tony@...

Garth Groff wrote: Every layout needs those four box cars! Maybe not the Reading as much as the other three. Tony Thompson tony@...

I think it is risky to trust these colorized images. Sometimes, of course, they are accurate, but I know of a number of them with wrong colors of buildings and railroad equipment. Tony Thompson tony@s

In the SP car ledgers I have seen, “retired” meant “removed from revenue service.” Some cars were subsequently selected by the MOW people for their use (moving to a different ledger), and some cars we

Actually that started in 1955. Ends were Daylight Orange and so specified on the lettering drawing. Tony Thompson tony@...

We don’t have to guess what the actual railroad industry terms were, because we have the definitions in volumes of the Cyclopedias. Richard Hendrickson always advocated using those defined terms as th

Garth Groff wrote: As the cars were not in interchange service, I don’t see why they would be in an ORER. Tony Thompson tony@...