True, the trucks would not absolutely confirm the car's origin and they could well be replacements. I enlarge the one photo that shows the truck, but the resolution is not high enough to read the data. I'm surprised that the car number was not evident somewhere inside.

Howard P. deserves another hat tip for pointing out the mid-side rivet strip. A look at the Penn Central rolling stock color guide shows three FGE 40' boxes, none of which have this strip.

ART refers tended to have this strip, as did the boxcars leased by PRR/PC with GAEX markings. Photos I've seen of the GAEX cars were all 50' cars, though, and that's all that show in the April 1976 ORER.

Nick

PS for the record: That COLX mark was assigned to North American Car in 1976. The cars may well have passed through MDT ownership or shops previously, though.

Here are some photos of the trucks. I’ve Photo-shopped the first two so the marking would be easier to distinguish. The third is a “grab” off the Internet.


ASF 21894A BENCO roller bearings


Griffin wheels


Amsted Rail product (ASF Keystone Div.) 70 ton Ride Control trucks

Don

Good work on the truck pics---

NAC- North American Car (a lessor in the 60s)
ASF- American Steel Foundries (casting maker/license holder of patent)
SCT-Standard Car Truck (truck supplier)

I'd start looking for 1960s-70s North American insulated boxcar photos on the interwebs, if any exist.

Howard P.

Thank you Howard!!

Don

While searching for something else tonight, I ran across this photo:

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 02&nseq=50

Don't know how close NX #3168 is to the subject car, but thought I'd throw it out there anyway. My apologies if not even a close match.

Les

Good morning Les, Gentle Forum Members,

Thank you, I think you’ve found another one!! From the location of the plywood “post no bills” boards to the step up stirrup alongside the door, it looks like one!!

I’m not a “railroader,” I’m an amateur historian and preservationist, an electrician by trade, so I’m still learning. I need some education please, help me out with these marks . . . . . . . what is "LD LMT?" Load Limit?? What is "LT WT?" Light Weight as in unloaded weight, i.e. "run your engine light to Greenport to do switching?"

How about the terms "EXW" and "EW?" I'm thinking Exterior something or other??? But the figures following make no sense to me at all :-)

Thank you to the Forum's knowledge base,
Don



[URL=https://imageshack.com/i/eyHG9VRKj][/URL

Oh, why not.

EXW is the extreme width. The H on the same line is the height from rail to the extreme width, which on this car looks to be at the upper door track.

EW is the exterior width, normally taken at "eaves or top of platform." The H on this line is the exterior height, in this case likely the height over the running board.

The three "I" dimensions are the interior length, width, and height.

CUFT is the cubical capacity in cubic feet.

This restored car isn't stenciled correctly; in the period depicted there should be another line above the two weights, CAPY, which is the nominal carrying capacity in pounds. The requirement for this was dropped sometime in the '80's or 90's, IIRC.

LT WT is the light weight of the car, in pounds, rounded to the nearest 100 pounds.

LD LMT is the actual load limit that can be carried, found by subtracting the light weight from the total carrying capacity of the axles under the car. If this dimension has a star next to it, it signifies the car owner has arbitrarily set a lower limit, and this figure is not to be changed during periodic re-weighs.

Also missing is the date the car was last weighed, and the station symbol where it was done. This was to be stenciled on the same line as the LT WT, to the right of the weight. If the actual weight varied more that 200 pounds (IIRC) from what was stenciled on the car, the car needed to be re-stenciled, which would be done by the railroad weighing the car.

The 25K floor loading stencil dates to a period newer that the paint scheme is supposed to depict.

Thank you Dennis!!

I learned along time ago it's no good to try and BS your way along. I'm a life learner so . . . . . . if I don't know, I don't know! Thanks for the tutorial!! :-) You're the best!

Don

Let's suspect for a moment that the car number (which is obviously not Pennsy) and car data are correct... either they relettered it with the old information after repainting, or completely made it up. The photo of the truck shows that PRR was stenciled on it after the number was, a good indication that the number is original to the car. A search of the ORER before heading to the interwebs shows two possibilities in North American car's section, both numbered 759, although both are listed as refers, not boxcars.

NADX 759 matches the exterior width and highth and interior heighth, but shows IL of 39'8" vs. 40' 0" marked on the car, and IW of 9'1" vs. 9'2". Capacity is also different, 3433 vs 3445.

COLX 759 matches more closely: EXW/H, EW/H, IL IW, and IH all match exactly. Capacity is just off, 3444 in the book vs. 3445 marked on the car. Given that there are five "4"s elsewhere in the markings, I suspect someone ran out of vinyl numbers and used something 'close' rather than making allowances for thinning sidesheets, etc. (Oddly, calculated cubic feet are only 3422 -- I guess they include the space under the peaked roof in the total).

So looking on the interwebs, you can find this car, which is pretty close, has the rivet strip, and is yellow, but has friction bearing trucks:
http://canadianfreightcargallery.ca/cgi-bin/image.pl?i=colx757&o=northamerican

And this car, from the same number series (732-759), likely blue, but with roller bearing trucks. Like the photos of the "PRR" car, the rivet strip is hard to see.
http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/uplo ... A28648.jpg

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/american-colloid-co-boxcar-colx-736

If the trucks are marked 1960, I suspect that they are original and somehow #757 got it's trucks swapped.

Nick

Gentle Forum Members,

One of our capital improvement projects supported by the bequest of Mr. Walter H. Milne of DesMoines, IA has been completed. For twelve years the RMLI planned for the acquisition of an appropriate 40’ boxcar to locate at our Greenport site. Until Mr. Milne’s bequest we had not had the money to either purchase or transport a suitable car to Greenport!

In early 2015, one of our valued members, Cameron Wolk launched a Country-wide search for a boxcar. With funds in hand the Museum was ready to act. Cameron found available boxcars as far west as Washington State and California, as far south as Georgia and north to Vermont. In April the RMLI contracted with the Wellsboro & Corning Railroad, a Genesee and Wyoming property, to purchase the American Colloid #759, (in Pennsy livery for photo freight work), and engaged Winters Rigging of North Collins, NY to pick and transport the car from Wellsboro, PA to Greenport, L.I.

Following seven months of “permit process” with the Long Island Rail Road and the MTA, the car is now permanently installed at the Railroad Museum of Long Island. Saved from the scrap pile, this boxcar will initially be used for storage of exhibit and construction materials. Following carbody work on snowplow W-83, “JAWS,” and restoration work on the freight house, the car will be partitioned and used for a video theatre and much needed storage space at the Museum.

Following are photos of the “pick and place” of the car at Greenport on Friday, November 6, 2015.


Cranes of “Long Island Crane & Rigging, Inc.” of Westhampton Beach, NY


American Colloid Boxcar 759 begins to tilt upright


Tilting a little bit more!


A little bit more . . . . . we’re almost there!


Upright and ready for her trucks!


On her trucks and ready for exhibit at Greenport RMLI


Viewed from the freight house deck, looking east

I would like to thank everyone who spoke with Cameron during our boxcar search. Our thanks also go to Angela Johnson of the Wellsboro & Corning Railroad, T.J. Winters of Winters Rigging, and Brad Allan of Long Island Crane & Rigging for making this acquisition possible and trouble free. A “tip O’ the hat” goes to the many employees of the LIRR and the MTA who worked diligently to pave the way for this most useful addition to our collection.

Don Fisher, President
Railroad Museum of Long Island

Congratulations! The boxcar looks great alongside hack No. 14 and the snowplow, and it sounds like it will provide some useful storage space. I hope to get to Greenport sometime soon to see it in person.

-Philip Marshall

Philip and All,

We abbreviated the railing alongside boxcar 759 today and popped the plug door open. It is in very good shape inside. We will have it open for viewing at our Annual Holiday Open House on Saturday and Sunday, December 5 & 6, 2015 from 11:30 to 3:00 PM. (Santa arrives at 12 noon each day!)

Stop by and take a look!
de Don n2qhvRMLI

And what a find indeed that boxcar was when I found it lurking amongst the Wellsboro yard. I may add that 759 is the only known American Colloid boxcar to be existence and has served a well earned life on the rails now into preservation where it will be displayed for generations to come. From a usual 1960 factory day in Seattle to the rails of the PRR this is one sight not to be missed especially for those visiting the island anytime soon.

Cameron

Regarding the mysterious yellow paint found in the door frame of this car at RMLI, I did notice that some American Colloid cars were painted yellow. I think it was an older paint scheme (?). The yellow cars had a distinctive leaping panther on the side, which was kind of neat! Here are two nice photos:

(1) http://thesunsetempire.tumblr.com/post/ ... xcar-1950s

(2) http://freight.railfan.ca/cgi-bin/image ... 113&o=lovx

After reading an illustrated history/timeline of American Colloid on their website (http://www.amcol.com/OurCompany/OurHistory.aspx), I see they have been in business since the late 1920's, and are now a huge international company. Hmm, their hundredth anniversary is coming up. As part of their centennial celebration, you might be able to get the company to fund restoration of the car to its old Colloid scheme. They might go for that!

Thanks Cameron, and thanks RMLI for giving this unique car a good home. I've had fun learning about the Colloid company too.