Landowner said I could have the car so today I was able to spend time looking at it closer. Yep... could see above the ceiling and saw where the clerestory was removed and the beaded boards put up and nailed to ceiling joints that are part of the pitched roof. Must have done that when they put it on the farm and converted it to a shed. Car is 9 by 25, so it's not the full car. The end where the bathroom is looks to have an original wall but the wall doesn't look like an end wall. Couldn't find a number anywhere.

OK, it is probably half of a 50 foot combination car from the 1875-90 era based on the hardware and construction. there must be some sort of story behind this.......

Interesting find. Best wishes preserving what you can of it.

dave

Don't rush to write it off as half a car. We ended up with what is probably the oldest mail car still in existence and it's about 40' long. Check the ends to see if the end sills are still there. It may be they just cut off the platform beams. Pictures of the outside full sides and ends would REALLY help.

Herb Sakalaucks

Its definitely half a car, Dwight spoke with me today and he remembers half a car close by, that coupled with the fact that the bathroom is in the middle which would have been the baggage end of the car. The baggage section is gone but as I said to a disheartened Dwight this car has a story and it needs to be uncovered recorded and told, over half the fun of these projects is the story, so he will continue to investigate the car to uncover any numbers it may still conceal. Half a car doesn't mean it cant be restored as my DSP&P 3 project illustrates, or will illustrate in time.
Well done Dwight this is fascinating stuff, welcome to the world of highs and lows in railroad car ownership !!

Mike Pannell

I found a car number on top of a sash… 19

That could be sash # 19 of however many were in the car. If other sash share the number, more likely to be the car number.

Car numbers are likely to be underneath the paint near the end doors.

dave

Yeah I agree Dave, I told Dwight its likely a sash number and to keep looking on the sash for a car number, check the next sash and see whats on that. my curiosity is aroused when he tells me the car is 8' 4" wide internally and 9'0 external which is a contender for narrow gauge possibly..... were there any NG lines in and around SC ?

Mike Pannell

Oh, the car is in SC.......

Yes, there were a plethora of narrow gage logging lines, some of which were also common carriers, in NC and SC. Matt Bumgarner is the expert......if the location can be revealed, I can try a guess or two.

dave

The Dorchester Lumber Co ran a 3 foot gage line from Badham, SC, on the Southern Ry near St George in 1910 and eventually it ran over 30 miles through and beyond Four Hole Swamp. It was converted to standard gage in 1920......if this car was a used passenger car bought to carry loggers into the woods, or a cook car, it may have been discarded as early as 1920. The depression killed the company in the early 1930's.

If this car is located north of Badham near a line running to Bethel Church, crossing Indian Field Swamp. west of Brown School and Duncan School, through Whetsell, crossing two fingers of Four Hole Swamp before turning east and crossing another finger of Four Hole near the state road......it may have been from that line.

Matt and his gang would be the go-to guys for how to move and preserve the car.

dave

I'm new to this and am learning alot here!

I know about that lumber company. I live 3 miles from Mr. Badham's "mansion" in Badham SC (next to I95 near St. George) and live in a 1904 house that is full of thin beaded T&G "badham board"!!!

Dave.... I'll PM you.

Looking forward to it.

Don't get too excited yet, this was just the most obvious one in proximity to St George, your location. There were many others in the general region, and huge 3 foot empire running through a lot of SC to serve the big mills in Hardeeville.

Reckon the other half of the car is salvageable also?

dave

Sort of narrowing the field....anybody have any detailed knowledge as to whether the Argent Lumber line had any clerestory roofed combines, or if either of the combines owned by the Carolina and Western could be the car in question? The B&B siding might be the giveaway.

Dave

Dwight-

If you could PM me or email me at matt@tarheelpress.com, I would be glad to assist you in whatever way possible. We have restored/are restoring several wooden cars that are in comparable shape to what you have discovered.

Check out www.newtondepot.com You can click on the NRHS button and follow the project list.

Thanks

Matt Bumgarner
SE Narrow Gauge & Shortline Museum
Alexander Chapter-NRHS

I can't prove a negative, and photo evidence of the Argent Lumber railroad's early days is scarce to nonexistent, but as the line was NOT a common-carrier and never offered any passenger trains other than hauling lumber crews out into the plantation and back on homebuilt caboose-like "boxes on wheels," it's very unlikely. The only possibility I see would have been if they picked up a combine from the New Berlin & Winfield in central Pa. at the same time they acquired 2-6-0 #2 from them in 1917--a very unlikely scenario at best.