Two complete doors from an ex-C B & Q USRA 40 ton double sheathed boxcar are currently available. They include the steel frame, top track, Union Metal Products roller bottom guides, and Camel starters, although one of the starter castings is missing. The doors are on a carbody that is in a precarious situation, being on an abandoned farm in northern Illinois now owned by the power company.

Initially it appeared that the body was well enough preserved to be saved, and talks with the power company have kept the car from being destroyed, but a more detailed inspection has determined that the shed roofs that have protected the doors for years have also been diverting water into the inside of the walls, so there is not much hope for the body framing. This coupled with the fact that the body was prepared for sale as a shed by removing the center sills, bolsters, and crossbearers and replacing same with timbers to support the floor makes it unlikely that the car will ever be preserved, but the doors and hardware could go a long way to completing someone else's restoration, and I'd like to see them saved.

They need a good home. Contact me at the above address for more information.


dstorzek@elnet.com