I arrived at barn 14 too late to get a shot from the sunny side but here is our completed B&O Wagon top box. Victor had better luck and will probably have a better photo and an article in an upcoming Rail and Wire.
We should also be able to get this car into a demonstration freight train for the 2018 season.

Congratulations on a completed project!

I have a question about the history of the car. In talking with Bob Kutella many years ago, before restoration of the car commenced, he mentioned that the car may have one of a handful of B&O wagontop boxcars fitted with signal air and steam lines for use on passenger trains. Was any evidence of this found during the restoration?

As part of the project wrap-up and closeout, I suggest documenting how the repairs on the lower side sheets were made. When I first saw this car (25+ years ago) there was quite a bit of rust through and many thin spots. The finished result is excellent and knowing how IRM accomplished this will give a leg up to other organizations in restoring equipment with similar issues.

I remember those wagon-tops as part of the rare LIRR freight trains. Gosh, that looks good. What a sight for sore eyes!

A couple of better-quality photos of IRM's car have been posted here:

https://hickscarworks.blogspot.com/2017/11/update-from-saturday.html

In response to the steam line question we did not find any evidence of extra pipes under the frame. Also the car history that the B&O Historical Society did not show any passenger use. Primary use seems to have been grain hauling.

Why the did B&O (and others?) use the wagontop design?

Wesley

Found this. . .and notes about how the design was used on covered hoppers and cabooses, too.

Other roads had round roof cars, including the PRR, but this particular design was strictly B&O.

https://www.american-rails.com/wagontops.html