Rupert,
Several comments come to mind. The car appears to have been manufactured by EMC-Pullman. Based on the front end configuration, it also appears to be a car that has been converted to diesel from a gasoline engine. As gas engine cars, the radiator was mounted in the area between the two outer front windows with a shutter arrangement over the front surface. When rebuilt to diesel, the radiator was moved to the cab roof, as shown in the photo, with the air intake immediately above the front windows. A new center front window was added where the upper portion of the original radiator had been. As a diesel car, that makes the fire a little problematic. The cars were converted to diesel to reduce the possibility of fire. Diesel fuel does not ignite like gasoline and usually requires an external spark for ignition. However, it is still possible that the fire occurred as described. It was my impression that the Q did not start converting motor cars to diesel until the 1940s, but possibly they started such work earlier. Corbin, in B in T does not indicate when the diesel conversion began, but it has been my impression that it started after the 1943 head on collision of a gas-electric motor car with O1A mike 4961 at Oswego, IL.
As for the disposition of the car, it is not totally destroyed.The rear portion appears to be undamaged. It is possible that it was repaired and returned to service, particularly If this car had recently been converted to diesel,. Another possibility is that it was converted to a trailer. This was done to several cars which were renumbered into the 3600 series. The car in the photo appears to be a passenger - mail or RPO configuration. If that is the case, the Q only had a few such cars. They were numbered 9625 - 9629 (originally 625 - 629) and 9665 - 9666 (originally 665 - 966). They also had five cars numbered 9729 - 9733 (originally 729 - 733) that Corbin lists as passenger - RPO. I don’t know the difference between passenger - mail and passenger - RPO unless only the RPO cars had a regular RPO clerk on board and met U.S. Post Office secs for the postal compartment. The car in the photo has a mail hook at the second door, so I would conclude that it had a mail clerk on board, at least some of the time. Corbin does not list any of the passenger - mail or passenger - RPO cars as bing converted to diesel, but I don’t know whether Mr. Corbin’s list is complete.
Bill Barber Gravois Mills, MO
Motor cars From: Rupert GamlenDate: Tue, 21 Apr 2020 02:03:38 PDT
There are two photos on eBay of a motor car involved in a fire, at https://www.ebay.com/itm/Burned-Chicago-Burlington-Quincy-Rail-Car-Train-Photographs-5-17-1937/333579384819?hash=item4daae177f3:g:olcAAOSwqDhenKPG
The text on the back of the photos states that the motor car burned at Edwards, Illinois on May 17, 1937 after a piece of rail punctured the gas tank. The photos were apparently taken at Peoria Depot, and refer to Louis Bryant. A search of newspaper found three pieces as attached. Needless to say the accounts don’t exactly match each other.
The original thought was that this was 9509 which was damaged in May 1937, but that was at Rockford when it collided with a truck on or about May 8. A photo of the resulting damage is on page 126 or Burlington In Transition. As well as the unlikelihood of the unit being repaired in time to be wrecked again, 9509 was built by Brill and has a rounded front while the Edwards motor car has a flat front.
Has anyone any suggestions as to the identity of the Edwards motor car?
Rupert Gamlen
Auckland NZ
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