All,

I've been looking for any information on what business cars The Alton rostered over the years including any photos if possible. Does anybody have any particular knowledge of this railroad that can help or can point me in the right direction? Thanks for any information you may have!

Bill

Bill -

I would think that the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio Historical Society would be a good place to start. The Chicago & Alton became a part of the GM&O.

Les

There is a car #500 listed in the unpublished Chicago & Alton photo files at the DeGolyer Library at Southern Methodist University. I will try to find it and see what it may be but that is the only listing I show. It is listed as a business car.

Contact me if you want a copy and I will send a form to you for completion.

Harry Nicholls
h_k_nicholls@peoplepc.com

Bill--

The January 1932 C&A passenger car diagram folio includes diagrams of 2 business cars:

#500:

#500 was built in June 1900 by Pullman as a wood car, rebuilt in December 1927 to steel sheathing, steel fishbelly underframe, and Commonwealth cast steel trucks. As of 1931, the B&O acquired the C&A, and #500 was renumbered to #921 in 1935. As of the 1932 diagram, the #500/#921 had electric lighting and air conditioning; it doesn't note when either was installed. In order, the #500/#921 was arranged kitchen, pantry (3'2" in length), porter's room (6' in length, narrower that other spaces due to A/C and electrical lockers next to hallway), staterooms, 6 seat dining room with sofa (12'8.875" in length) and 7 seat lounge observation (10'2.625" in length). The #500/#921 had 3 staterooms: from kitchen end to observation end, A (9' in length), B (6'3" in length), the restroom for all 3 (also 6'3"), and then D (9'4" in length). Overall, the #500/#921 was 81'1.875" long over buffers, 80'7.125" long over pulling faces, and 70'3.5" long over end frames. The 3-axle Commonwealth trucks had a wheelbase of 11' and the truck center length was 53'2". The height from the top of the rail to the top of the roof was 13'8.25" and the height from the top of the rail to the top of the kitchen vent covers was 14'10.25". The weight of the car at the kitchen end was 106,980 lbs. and the weight at the observation end was 94,100 lbs. for a total weight of 201,080 lbs.

#503:

#503 was built in 1917 by the C&A as a very late wood car, rebuilt in 1926 to steel sheathing, a Commonwealth steel underframe with 2" diameter truss rods, and Commonwealth cast steel trucks. As of 1931, the B&O acquired the C&A, and #503 was renumbered to #922 in 1935. As of the 1932 diagram, the #503/#922 had electric lighting, which again, the diagram does not note when this was installed. In order, the #503/#922 was arranged kitchen (6'4" in length), pantry (6'1.5" in length), porter's room (6'3" in length with upper and lower section berths), staterooms, 8 seat dining room with sofa and 6 seat lounge observation (a combined length of 22'6"). The #503/#922 had 4 staterooms: from kitchen end to observation end, the first 3 staterooms were all 6'6" in length (with upper and lower section berths) and the last stateroom was 9'8" in length. Overall, the #503/#922 was 71' long over the end sills and 81'3.5" over the buffers uncoupled. The 3-axle Commonwealth trucks had a wheelbase of 11' and the truck center length was 55'. The weight of the car at the kitchen end was 98,100 lbs. and the weight at the observation end was 86,500 lbs. for a total weight of 184,600 lbs. B&O leased the #503/#922 from the Alton as of 10/10/1943, and acquired it on 11/1/1944 in trade for coach #5249. In 1945 the Mt. Clare shop rebuilt and modernized the car with air conditioning, Adlake windows, and roller-bearing trucks. As part of the rebuild, the dining room was moved next to the kitchen and the number of staterooms was reduced to 3. The car was outshopped on 10/15/1945 as B&O #908. The #908 was assigned to the Chief Engineer-Maintenance of Way, which in 1964 was John T. Collinson; by June 1966 the #908 was unassigned. The #908 was sold on 10/20/1967 to Ruben Darby-Darby Wood Products (Hagerstown), and it was later resold to Warren Browning (Bethesda), who donated the car to the B&O RR Museum. The #908 currently carries the name John T. Collinson.

Pictures of #908 at the B&O RR Museum:

1. 2000: https://www.flickr.com/photos/37922909@N06/4401016002 (Sten Parker photo)

2. 6/1/2014: http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3864125 (Paul Koprowski photo)

Sources:

1. C&A (Alton) passenger car diagram folio of January 1932

2. Page on Jeff's Train Site about the #908: http://www.jeffstrainsite.com/railfan_pics/railroad_museums/Baltimore_and_Ohio_Railroad_Museum/February_2002/page56.html

3. B&O RR Historical Society's quarterly magazine, the Sentinel, specifically the 2nd Quarter 2011 issue, available here as a PDF file: http://www.borhs.org/sentinel/sentinel2011q20516.pdf

4. Jerry LaBoda's photo links database: http://passcarphotos.info/

Thanks for all the info guys! This is great!

Bill