With reference to the boxes shown on the CB&Q ORER's in 1947-8 as leased with
"USA" reporting marks (USA Army), I raised the issue again on the STMFC and
this was the response from Richard Hendrickson -
"Did the Army also have reporting marks for non-captive service equipment or
did they use railroad owned equipment? Do the dimensions of the cars (inside
length of 36' 6", width of 8' 6", height of 7' 10" and a capacity of 2432 cu.
ft.) match other Army boxes?"
Yes, USOX, USQX, and CWSX, but in the 1940s they were applied to tank cars and
container flat cars, not box cars. However, AAR steel box cars were built for
the army before and during WW II which had USAX reporting marks and were not
listed in the ORERs. I have a photo of USAX 25617 which appears to have been
built to the same design as the B&O's M-55c class (7' corrugated doors, flush
riveted roof, 4-5 rectangular rib ends) except that it did not have a Duryea
underframe. And I also have a ca. 1947 photo of USAX 242978, a 1937 standard
AAR box car, stencilled "Leased to A.T.& S.F Return to Richmond Calif. When
Empty." This car carried "Dangerous" placards, but chalk-marked on the side was
"Hills Bros. Coffee." I have no explanation to offer for any of this.
While writing the above, I remembered seeing a photo of an army box car in the
Morris Abowitz slide collection. I looked it up and I found a color slide of a
36' wood sheathed box car stencilled with "USA" reporting marks, a number that
appears to be "830," and "Denver Ordnance Plant." The car was painted light
gray and had 7-7 inverse corrugated ends, steel underframe with straight center
sills, flexible metal-sheathed roof, and wood doors - in short, construction
typical of the WW-I /early 1920s era. What's more, it appears to have had KC
air brake equipment, not AB. I'm pretty sure this must have been one of the
cars that was listed briefly in the CB&Q's ORER entries as being leased from
the army. But here's the surprise; the photo was taken at the SP's Taylor Yard
in Los Angeles in - are you ready for this? - 1961. Yet there is no reference
to any cars with USA reporting marks in any of the ORERs I have from the 1950s
and early '60s. And certainly this car was an anachronism by 1961, especially
if I'm right about the K brakes, which were outlawed in interchange after
mid-'53. It would certainly be interesting to know how this car got to LA in
1961, and what the SP's car clerks made of it when they couldn't find it in the
register."
Can anyone add to this?
Rupert
Auckland NZ
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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