Hi List Members,


Image of LS&MS 'Red Line' double sheathed boxcar at the Union Manufacturing Company facility in New Britain Connecticut (undated) at the link below


https://www.unionmfgco.com/story-of-unionmfgco


Road number might be D9017 - hmm, what's up with the "D"?!?


Note the posted bills and advertising on the side of the car.


Enjoy!


Claus Schlund

Hi Claus,

Nice photo.

I’m sure a NYC Lines expert can say more, but the ‘D' before the number of LS&MS cars dates back into the 1870s and continued until between 1908 and 1910. The earliest photo I have that shows a D-prefixed number is from 1877--that is, the same year as Vanderbilt gained control of the LS&MS. Consequently, I’m not sure if its use is related to that corporate arrangement any way. Wording in the ORER suggests the ‘D’ was applied to all rolling stock. Neubauer’s Pullman lot list indicates, however, that some cars did not receive a ‘D' prefix. In either event, in the 19th century and the first decade or so of the 20th the use of the ‘D’ appears to have been more common than not on LS&MS cars.

Take care,

James

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James McDonald
Greenbelt, Maryland