And absolutely NONE of those parts are interchangeable between different brands of couplers. A really good illustration of the need for standardization, answered by the adoption of the ARA Type D coup

Likely St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern which Became part of the Missouri Pacific in 1917. Dennis Storzek

That car appears to be out of service, maybe used for company storage... the tip off ie the Civil Defense emblem on the carside, not something you'd likely see in service. It also looks like the truck

Yes, the 1931 CBC identifies that as a Klasing Safety Handbrake, Wheel Type. But the point is, it's obvious, with that large gear housing at the eave line, it won't be mistaken for the old time 'stem

Yes, they were quite wide spread and hard to spot, since unlike Bob Chaparro's example which had the reduction gearing up at the roof eave, most examples brought the brake staff all the way down to th

That reference to ARA Type D couplers adds more confusion, because the Type D, and all other couplers designed around the ARA No.10 knuckle contour were actually bigger than what would be a "full size

I seem to recall it was a switching accident in St. Louis. The spur dropped down from an elevated ROW (note shadow of bridge in foreground). The car got away and went over the wheel stops at the end o

Just thought to check the Ken Soroos Soo freight cars book. It contains a photo of WC owned 137190, also built 11-51, in the second iteration, proving that all three variations of the lettering scheme

45450 is the second iteration of the "billboard block" lettering, after the words were spread out for visual balance but before they were lowered. W.C. owned 13096 was built within weeks of Lester's 4

Not to steal Lester's thunder on a very nice model, but to answer your question, very late 1951. The model has a 10-51 NEW date, and I know the art was prepared from a photo. The "billboard" SOO LINE

The arrangement of the dimensional data, with the top two lines separated from the lower four and slightly condensed so the column is both left and right justified is a dead giveaway that this car is

Lots of roads. It helped getting the door back if it separated from the car in a derailment, of if an overzealous unloading crew tore it off the car. Dennis Storzek

The Master Car Builders Association and later ARA and AAR mechanical designations recognized these special purpose cars: XF was an oversize furniture car XAF was an Automobile and Furniture car. Remem

Nothing unusual about long cars for these special use cars; they weren't meant for general freight so weren't likely to be overloaded. Another related car that totally disappeared around the turn of t

Charlie, I disagree. Here is all the definition of "woodenware" as it pertains to freightcars that you need. What it has in common with furniture is it won't "nest" so is light in weight for it's volu

My first guess, stenciled high on the car like that, is RE-ROOFED 3-32 or ROOF RE-NEWED 3-32. These were railroad specific, non standard stencils that changed with time. Basically, anything the car de

I'm of the opinion that it's all the same problem... the stickiness is un-reacted resin on the surface of the part, while the white spots are un-reacted resin migrating from deeper in the part. I'm no

Now that the list traffic has slowed a bit, might be a good time to comment on this. If industry felt the same as above we'd all be in big trouble, since the same digital technology has been in use fo

Actually, with regard to the Mitutoyo digitals, the fourth place is limited to 0 or 5. This gives the same functionality as "eyeballing" halfway between the marks on a vernier caliper. It also lets th

I thought I was hearing the ghost of Larry Jackman. Nobody in this hobby needs accuracy beyond what is achievable with a decent quality digital caliper, which, by the way, are certifiable by a calibra