Hi Eric,

 So here is the background on the C&WC Ventilated cars and box cars.

The C&WC was controlled by the ACL beginning in 1897. As a subsidiary  It was the ACLs’ primary route to access the L&N – which ran to Chicago.  Reading history on the ACL you’ll find this information. Most of my information comes  from “Lines South” Editor Larry Goosby and an excellent book commissioned by the ACL - SAL  in 1967 written by Glenn Hoffman  Titled  “A History of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company” and edited by Richard E. Bussard of CSX. The Complete manuscript for the book was found on a shelf in the CSX Headquarters some 25 years after it was written. Its un clear why it hadn’t been published. It’s an exceptional read.

When it came to car building, The ACL used the shops of 13 various railroads it absorbed over the early years. Having researched the O-17 type ventilated car and the nonventilated cars built back in the day, I wondered why the O-17 cars survived so long after WWII.

I came to realize the loading and un-loading facilities for water melons and other perishable crops were built around the length of the older cars. Many of the O-17 cars were rebuilt following WW II and the end of the Atlantic Coast Dispatch. ( A fast perishable Freight service agreement with the Pennsylvania RR & The Atlantic Coast line)

 Being run as a subsidiary  of the ACL The C&WC vents/boxcars are the C&WC O-13 vents which are the equivalent to the ACL O-17 ventilated cars.  I have only seen photos of the C&WC O-13 vents dating from the 30s to 60s.  I do not know if the C&WC cars were painted and lettered for the ACD or if any were rebuilt.   Still looking for evidence. 

 Early ORERs from the teens & twenties show the C&WC possessed vents that predated the O-13/O-17 design - suspect they were the equivalent of the ACL O-7/O-8 vents or possibly the O-9/O-10 vents.  It has been a while since I made the comparison of the C&WC cars with ACL counterparts.  I would need to revisit to verify the classes.  We also need pre 1929 photos to verify the paint scheme. (Yes, I’m still looking for photographs)

 The C&WC also had an O-18 class which was the boxcar version of the O-13/O-17 and lacked the ventilated door and end ventilators. They were divided into two groups home road cars and others that traveled off the system. Again, I’m still interested in finding more photos. I didn’t come across an ACL version of the C&WC O-18 class boxcar.

Rich Yoder