The internet is simply amazing. I was looking at a photo of a CGW boxcar on Ebay, and wondered what kind of boxcar it was. A search on the number (CGW 85542) revealed that it was a PRR X29 type. Huh, a PRR boxcar on the CGW? Interesting.

A minute later, another search on surviving PRR X29 boxcars turned up this drop-dead-gorgeous, intact specimen being used for storage in Harrisburg, PA. Cool!

The question now is, who will get custody of this prize boxcar? The Eastern US seems utterly saturated with unrestored rail relics compared with the rest of the country. So could an able Midwestern museum *coughIRMcough* save this one? :)


http://wikimapia.org/16707133/Pennsylva ... to/1264958

The X29 in Lewiston is not the only gem there. In fact, the whole little engine terminal is a bit of a prize.

This car is well-known as the PRRT&HS headquarters is in the depot just behind the trees. I would guess any effort to move this car to the Midwest would be met with a local militia. ;-)

Rob

Lol. I suspected as much. Thanks for the prompt reply!

That CGW car was probably not a PRR X29, but a 1923 ARA standard car. With some slight modifications, B&O, L&NE, CGW, W&LE, C&O, and I think NKP had them, among others. Some used different roofs, ends, and/or doors than the PRR cars, but they were nearly twins.

If the 4 digit number is correct, then the car was most likely used in Express service on Mail & Express and Passenger trains.

Ryan

The car has marker/flag brackets on the corners, indicating passenger train usage.

Pretty sure the X29s that were used in mail and express service had numbers in the 1000s and 2000s, not as high as 6800s.

If those cars had steam and signal lines (?), that might be a further clue to the real identity of the Lewistown car.

A SWAG says that 6862 is only part of the car's complete PRR number.

RMNE's PRR - REA X-29, with marker brackets, steam line, and other passenger train appliances. The number was stenciled inside the car. When it arrived in the early 80s (from New Haven, Conn.), it carried the last PRR 1962 "simple" lettering scheme. This earlier lettering version was taken from a PRR lettering arrangement we had in the files.



Car was restored and painted in 1984.

Howard P.

Howard -

PRR #9495 really looks great! Is she ever run on the end of trains at RMNE "carrying the markers"? That would be great to see! I wish that our Pennsy X29 (body only) at HVRM looked as good as 9495.

Les

Thank you, all, for the great replies.

The Chicago Great Western boxcar that I mentioned in the original post is in the Ebay sale linked below, photographed in October 1971 in Stockton, IL. It does not have marker brackets like the PRR car. I am assuming it was a straight-up boxcar rather than an express car like the PRR ones shown in this thread, but I would love to learn more. Perhaps that discussion is off-topic for this forum, however, so I should seek that information elsewhere.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chicago-Great-W ... 7675.l2557

rock island lines -

Would be interesting to know if any of the Chicago Great Western X29 style cars made it to preservation. Also whether any other X29 style cars from the B&O, L&NE, C&O, etc., were preserved.

Les

I can't recite chapter and verse, but a few 1923 ARA standard boxcars are extant. Whether they can be considered "preserved" is another issue. New Hope & Ivyland uses a couple of bodies as storage sheds, for example, and at least one of those is ex-L&NE. The Phillipsburg (NJ) RR Historians have one from the CNJ: http://www.prrh.org/photos/box-car/index.html which may be owned by the Anthracite RR's Historical Society. (Certainly the trucks shown with this car are not original!) Decades ago, I saw examples of B&O and C&O cars in Cincinnati; I think they may have gone to museums, but their current status is questionable.

The trucks may not be original to the CNJ car, but if I remember correctly both have CRRofNJ cast in them. Pretty neat. That is a very sweet piece that many folks had their eyes on for years as it kicked around Allentown on Conrail. I hope it finds a full restoration and indoor storage down the road.

Rob

Rob, I was referring to the roller bearing trucks the car had before it was moved, as seen in the photos on the Pburg website. But now that you mention it, I saw the car about a year ago and it had solid bearing trucks at that time. The CNJ paint was pretty weathered and I don't think the car had a herald.

The B&O RR Museum has a B&O example:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/127696208 ... 791203955/

Here's a roster of ARA 1923 boxcars and derivatives:

www.steamerafreightcars.com/calendar/20 ... ax29.1.pdf

I made a "backhanded" reference earlier in this thread, to the PRR X29 boxcar at HVRM. Took a photo of it today. It's Pennsylvania #573029 and I list her on our roster as a boxcar shed. She came from a grain elevator in Thornhope, Indiana.

Les