Brian, Very interesting photos. Between us, five SP transfer cabooses, and all different. That's way cool. While these beasties were more common in the East, I have only seen two more in the Left Coas

Brian, Of even more importance, you got a photo of a rare SP transfer caboose. I don't have Tony's SP caboose book, so maybe he could comment more on this car and others, especially if any were in use

Chad, Upon reflection, I believe this photo actually shows four crates. While a crate could be over 40' long, I can't see one bending in the middle. As for load securing banding or other tackle, my in

Friends, Some years ago I copied this photo from a government document, probably a War Department / Army Transportation Corps manual. I believe it was on US military railroads in WWII, but can't remem

Tom and Guy, Somewhere I've seen a photo taken in the 1950s of used cars being delivered to a team track for a small local auto dealer, I think on the C&O. The cars shipped were in a double-door boxca

Tim, Western Pacific had some GA gondolas like this, but with a 46' IL and a bit higher sides. Yours Aye, Garth Groff

Ben, I can't comment on the fidelity of the body styles since I don't have any of the Bowser cars, and their web pictures are rather unhelpful. As for the Linde "boxcar", the prototype wasn't actually

Friends, This Gilbert ad looks like their own stuff, probably near the end in the early '60s, but I could be wrong. At least some of Gilbert's original train set cars were Marx knock-offs, or were mad

Good Friends, I have just added five new tank car photos to realstmfc_AT_groups.io, "Garth Groff's Album 5, Tank Cars", found on page 9. These include an NATX twin dome, and an AC&F high-walkway Type

Steve, Ed Hawkins did a better article in the July 1999 RMJ. Besides KCS, cars of this configuration were bought or home-built by the D&M and Erie, with MP and subsidiary MI, IC building their own cop

Good Friends, This photo was taken on the D&LW's 25th Street/South Brooklyn Terminal, one of a number of vest-pocket operations served by car float The tiny yard featured a huge coal transfer operated

Tim, Great tank cars. A car with same end sills survives at Steamtown. When I photographed it about 15 years ago it was unrestored, but Steamtown sources say it belonged to Barber Asphalt. Yours Aye,

Steve and Friends, Thanks for your help with the gondola and the great photo. I completely forgot about the L&N, it not being a "Y'all" railroad that operates in Virginia or that I ever saw. The 4/195

Good friends, Attached is a photo I took of a Seaboard low-side gondola at Dillwyn, Virginia on the then-CSX Dillwyn Subdivision (now Buckingham Branch RR) around 1986. It appears to be an ex-NC&STL c

Scott, How about a teeny-tiny 00000 spotting brush, some thinned rust-colored acrylic paint, an Optivisor (for those of us older than Elvis) and a lot of patience? Yours Aye, Garth Groff

Bob and friends, Also note the small lettering on the left door, "Unlock this door from inside". I assume that means that the right-hand door could be opened from the outside first.

Good Friends, Last month we were talking about coal trestles, and I mentioned a surviving one at the Montpelier estate near Orange, Virginia. This actually belong to the estate, rather than the Southe

Claus, I'm pretty sure this ISN'T an AC&F type 11 car. The lack of end platforms and the shape of the tank support/bolsters speak against this. There were a number of knock-off high-walkway tank car d

Friends, After my post I noted a couple of omissions to the list of cars with Pullman "PS-0" or "Lollipop Stick" ends. The corrected list follows for anyone keeping score. The entries I corrected are

Friends, While working through the Pullman photos at the Illinois Digital Archives site ( http://www.idaillinois.org/digital/collection/pshs/search/searchterm/BOXCAR ) I noted that some of the cars fr