Mike queried:
I notice the reporting marks USQX in the Frt Conductor Book. This
reporting mark appears to not exist in my '53 ORER. Does anyone know what
this was in '49?
Mike Brock
Mike,
I believe that these were cars used to transport the Roswell
wreckage and the dead aliens by the US Gov't. That's why they don't show
up. :)
Warren Dickinson
Somehow, I missed Mike's original post. It's obviously pointless to
comment on Warren's (facetious, I hope) explanation, but the fact is that
the USQX reporting marks were those of of the United States Army
Quartermaster Corps, which had a sizeable tank car fleet during and after
WW II. By 1950 those cars, along with cars bearing USAX and USOX reporting
marks, were consolidated under the management of the Department of the
Army, Office of the Chief of Transportation, Railway Transport Service
Division. By 1953, all such cars had USAX reporting marks assigned. And
by the mid-1950s, when all of the services were consolidated under the
Department of Defense, USAX cars, along with the navy's USNX cars, were
combined under DODX reporting marks. Trust the military to keep
rearranging the deck chairs....
Richard H. Hendrickson
Ashland, Oregon 97520
