I have to move (roughly 50 miles from a small railroad to a museum) a c1950's Budd passenger car (originally NYC, ex-Amtrak 5668) . Mechanically, car is "fixed up and ready to go" BUT I have to deal w/ UMLER. I have my own registered, approved and paid for reporting marks and stencils have been cut for the car number. I have two "tags" ready to be programmed (by a regional RR that can do it). I have repeatedly e-mailed Great Lakes Railcar, via RPCA, and have gotten no response. The museum rec'd the car as a gift from the widow of the previous owner, and there is no paperwork on the car. I don't know specifics about how the car got from Amtrak to the private owner.

Where does one find the correct answers to all the categories that are required for the UMLER file? ---if you have never looked at what's required, go to the RPCA web page and browse your way to the UMLER stuff. You will have to download an Excel spreadsheet and a Word file.

I am not doing the actual car prep work myself, other museum volunteers with that talent are doing it. My task was to find the correct info, get it to the "tag" programmers and get it into the UMLER file.

If anyone has a place for me to look, please let me know.

THANK YOU!

rayg

Ray, are you an RPCA member?

Here is my suggestion: have your shortline RR pull the AEI info from any Budd-built PV that is Amtrak PC1/PC2 approved. They will all have AEI tags (or they should) and the info in their files will be close enough to what you need. You obviously don't need every field in AEI filled out (i.e. the side door width). The info from the PVs should be close enough for what you need.

Chris.

I had no problem getting to the UMLER information section of the RPCA web pages. Over the weekend, I got a response within 12 hours. I note there that the folks who do the UMLER work have been moving and have new contact information posted. Go to the RPCA homepage and hit the "Member Services" button. I've put 5 or 6 cars into UMLER through RPCA and have not had any big problems.

Is your museum a member of RPCA? The service is for members and member organizations only. I would advise against blindly copying and submitting data from another Budd car. When you submit the information to the UMLER system, you are certifying it as correct and also are accepting liability for wrong information you provide. For instance, if you provide incorrect clearance information to UMLER and you ding something (or something dings you), it's your fault and you buy the liability.

There is no need to use the RPCA service, if you don't want to. It's just as you say, registration is a fairly convoluted process, and kind of hard to get right the first time. The RPCA has been actively involved in the UMLER process for years, and participated in the development of the current UMLER standards, when other similar organizations chose not to become involved or share the effort. When dealing with the UMLER computers, connection time is money.

If you continue to have difficulties contacting the RPCA UMLER folks, contact me off-line.