I've just loaded a builders' photo of a U.S. Air Force (USAFX) PS-1 box car. Yes, I know it's
not a tank car but I'm still looking! I also have very similar photos of new PS-1 box cars
lettered for the U.S. Army (USAX), the U.S. Navy (USN), and the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC).

Pat Wider

Pat Wider wrote:

I've just loaded a builders' photo of a U.S. Air Force (USAFX) PS-1 box car. Yes, I know it's
not a tank car but I'm still looking! I also have very similar photos of new PS-1 box cars
lettered for the U.S. Army (USAX), the U.S. Navy (USN), and the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC).

But Pat, how can this be? Richard H. firmly told us there were no such cars <g>.

Anthony Thompson
2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705
(510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937;
e-mail: thompsonmarytony@...

But there, like a coelacanth, it is. :-)

Interestingly, though, the boxcar carries a builder's date of 3/53.
The *1*/53 ORER shows no Air Force cars at all, suggesting that this
was one of the Air Force's first cars of any kind. Also, all private-
owner reporting marks in 1/53 were four letters or fewer: "USAFX"
seems to have represented a departure.

Al Brown, Melbourne, Fla.


--- In STMFC@..., Anthony Thompson <thompson@s...> wrote:

Pat Wider wrote:

I've just loaded a builders' photo of a U.S. Air Force (USAFX)

PS-1

box car. Yes, I know it's
not a tank car but I'm still looking! I also have very similar

photos

of new PS-1 box cars
lettered for the U.S. Army (USAX), the U.S. Navy (USN), and the

U.S.

Marine Corps (USMC).

But Pat, how can this be? Richard H. firmly told us there

were no

such cars <g>.

Anthony Thompson
2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705
(510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937;
e-mail: thompsonmarytony@s...

Sure looks like a car that could be used in interchange service to me.

Could those who have ORERs in the 1950s please look up the Air Force
therein to see what if anything is listed. I'd like to know.
As I said earlier, my collection jumps from July 1954 to January 1961.

Gene Green
who thinks he knows more about military freight cars than he actually
does.


--- In STMFC@..., "Patrick Wider" <pwider@s...> wrote:

I've just loaded a builders' photo of a U.S. Air Force (USAFX) PS-1

box car. Yes, I know it's

not a tank car but I'm still looking! I also have very similar

photos of new PS-1 box cars

lettered for the U.S. Army (USAX), the U.S. Navy (USN), and the

U.S. Marine Corps (USMC).

Pat Wider

Those military freight cars came with handsome cast builder
plates. I have shots of a 1951 PS-1 plate and a 1955 tank car
plate. Pat do you have the builder photo of USAX 11722 -- a
103W identical to the Red Caboose model?

Tim O'Connor

Tony Thompson wrote

I also have very similar photos of new PS-1 box cars lettered
for the U.S. Army (USAX), the U.S. Navy (USN), and ... (USMC).

But Pat, how can this be? Richard H. firmly told us there were
no such cars <g>.

I saw a whole bunch of clean looking 40 ft PS-1 box cars in 1999
in Wisconsin, on the Fort McCoy military base west of Tunnel City.
Didn't get any pics though...

Here is a map link to the base. Just click a couple of times to zoom
in to a bunch of RR tracks crossing highway 21.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?searchtype=address&country=US&addtohistory=&searchtab=home&formtype=address&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&cat=&address=&city=tunnel+city&state=WI&zipcode=

Tim O'Connor

Pat;
If you can, whenever you can, I'd be interested in seeing what you have as far as Navy cars. When I was stationed aboard the USS Camden (AOE-2) at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, I'd see the Navy switchers (44-Tonners ?) switching cars, mostly flats IIRC, and while I wanted to get some photos, I wasn't about to risk getting into trouble with the restrictions on photography! TIA

Take Care!

Brian R. Termunde
West Jordan, UT
"Ship and Travel the Grand Canyon Line!"

Grand Canyon Railway
Utah District

On Wednesday, February 1, 2006, at 06:01 AM, Gene Green wrote:

Could those who have ORERs in the 1950s please look up the Air Force
therein to see what if anything is listed.  I'd like to know. 
As I said earlier, my collection jumps from July 1954 to January 1961.

Gene,
For one about in the middle of this time period, the 4/57 ORER lists
"Department of the Navy" (USNX) located in Washington, D.C. and
"Department of the Army" (USAX and DFAX), located at the Transportation
Supply and Maintenance Command in St. Louis. The USNX listed 232 tank
cars and USAX 3,969 tank cars. The only DFAX cars listed are 18 flat
cars.
Regards,
Ed Hawkins

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

"Patrick Wider" <pwider@...> wrote:

I've just loaded a builders' photo of a U.S. Air Force (USAFX) PS-1 box car.
Pat Wider

I don't see any sign of hinges on the roof. How did they fire the missles out? <VBG>
--
Richard Townsend
Lincoln City, Oregon


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On Feb 1, 2006, at 6:01 AM, Gene Green wrote:

Sure looks like a car that could be used in interchange service to me.

Could those who have ORERs in the 1950s please look up the Air Force
therein to see what if anything is listed.  I'd like to know. 
As I said earlier, my collection jumps from July 1954 to January 1961.

There are no entries for the United States Air Force in the 1/55 ORER
(on disc from Al Westerfield), nor are there any USAFX reporting marks
under the U. S. Army entry or anywhere else. And, as someone has
pointed out, USAFX are non-conforming reporting marks in any case. On
Gene's evidence, a few Air Force cars made a brief appearance in the
ORERs ca. 1953-'54 and then disappeared, which suggests that they
probably weren't in interchange service and weren't even acceptable in
interchange service for very long. All branches of the military owned
freight cars which were used exclusively on-site at various supply and
ammunition depots, weren't in the ORERs, and were not interchanged.
Though such cars may be of interest as curiosities, it would obviously
be pointless to model them.

Richard Hendrickson


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Richard Hendrickson wrote:

And, as someone has
pointed out, USAFX are non-conforming reporting marks in any case.

The "non-conforming" part may not be serious. Remember that railroads were permitted to spell out their name in place of initials. If it was "conforming" to spell out "PENNSYLVANIA" I fail to see a grave problem with "USAFX." On the issue of initials only, let's don't forget D&RGW and NC&StL.

Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA
2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 www.signaturepress.com
(510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, thompson@...
Publishers of books on railroad history

Mr. Wider,

Can you please provide us and Kadee more of these photo's?
Nice to have some of these.......

Arnold van Heyst.

--- In STMFC@..., "Patrick Wider" <pwider@...> wrote:

I've just loaded a builders' photo of a U.S. Air Force (USAFX) PS-1

box car. Yes, I know it's

not a tank car but I'm still looking! I also have very similar

photos of new PS-1 box cars

lettered for the U.S. Army (USAX), the U.S. Navy (USN), and the U.S.

Marine Corps (USMC).

Pat Wider

In a message dated 2/1/2006 4:32:36 P.M. Mountain Standard Time,
pwider@... writes:

Your wish is my command - it'll take a couple of minutes.



---> Thanks Pat! Whenever, I really appreciate it!

Take Care!

Brian R. Termunde
West Jordan, Utah

"Ship and Travel the Grand Canyon Line!"
Grand Canyon Railway
Utah District

Bits the sheet outa me!!!!!!!!!! (-:

Pat Wider

Your wish is my command - it'll take a couple of minutes.

Pat Wider

--- In STMFC@..., GCRDS@... wrote:

Pat;
If you can, whenever you can, I'd be interested in seeing what you have as far as Navy

cars. When I was stationed aboard the USS Camden (AOE-2) at the Puget Sound Naval
Shipyard in Bremerton, I'd see the Navy switchers (44-Tonners ?) switching cars, mostly
flats IIRC, and while I wanted to get some photos, I wasn't about to risk getting into
trouble with the restrictions on photography! TIA

Take Care!

Brian R. Termunde
West Jordan, UT
"Ship and Travel the Grand Canyon Line!"

I wrote:

But Pat, how can this be? Richard H. firmly told us there were no
such cars <g>.

Pat Wider replied:

Bits the sheet outa me!!!!!!!!!! (-:

Richard is of course masterfully working the "moving target," in which the non-existent cars are now existent only briefly.

Tony Thompson Editor, Signature Press, Berkeley, CA
2906 Forest Ave., Berkeley, CA 94705 www.signaturepress.com
(510) 540-6538; fax, (510) 540-1937; e-mail, thompson@...
Publishers of books on railroad history

See photo of USAX 9271 I've just loaded, I think it's close.

Pat Wider

Gee Whiz, Fellas!

Is this topic worth the time some of us, including me, have put into it?
Richard's absolute statement that there were no Air Force freight cars
has been proven wrong, at least in the minds of those making posts on
the topic. Richard has amended his statement to say that there were
Air Force freight cars only briefly because - ta da - they were listed
only briefly in the ORERs. Let's consider the topic closed. Few among
us will model any except the tank cars anyway.

Gene Green
who continues to think of himself as a military freight car expert in
spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary