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From: "McKnight, Richard" pat_mcknight AT nps DOT gov
Date: Fri, 22 Jun 2018 05:33:31 -0400
Subject: Steamtown Images--June 22, 2018--X Series (X4655-X4661)
"X4655.jpg" - image/jpeg, 2241x2864 (256c)

Please find attached images for your review. It is my hope that getting
information out that these images exist will benefit everyone and I
appreciate being able to use this list as one of the ways to both
distribute the images, but also receive feedback and additional information
on them.

X4655--NYC Boxcar no. 256241--End [1925-1926]
X4657--NYC Boxcar no. 256241--End [1925-1926]
X4659--Tracks into fenced in area [1925-1926]
X4660--Tracks into fenced in area [1925-1926]
X4661--Tracks near collapsed sand house [1925-1926]

Please note additional info on the NYC Box Car:

NYC Lines 1912 standard boxcars

NYC 256241, Steamtown negatives X-4653,- 4,-5,- 7

Prior to WW1, the New York Central Lines issued a “standard” box car design
every two or three years and ordered large numbers of each design for the
various constituent companies under their control. There were standard
designs built in 1905-6,1907,1910,1912,and 1914. Each design contained
improvements as this was a time of rapid evolution in car design;
especially in underframe construction. The 1910 program saw at least three
designs of steel underframes used with the same wooden body, and the 1912
cars had a yet more refined underframe design. 1912 was the largest group
of cars with nearly 16000 cars built. The standard car of 1914 was
essentially the same design with Murphy corrugated steel ends instead of
the wood sheathed ones; another 7405 cars. The railroad had “specification
numbers” for many of the designs but I do not know if there was one for the
1912 design. NYCL also had a system of “lot numbers”. Each lot was a group
of alike cars built on an individual order to a builder. The lot numbers
were started in 1906 at Lot 200-B.(- B standing for “box”) and continued to
Lot 1000 in about 1966, then it was started over at 100 for the last couple
years of the NYC. Penn Central would adopt PRR style class numbers.

NYC 256241 was a 1912 design boxcar from Lot289-B. After about 1922 the lot
number was stenciled above the NYCL oval trade mark on the side of the car
as it is on #256241. This lot was built in 1912 by the ACF plant in Detroit
and was 1750 cars originally numbered LS&MS 87000-88749.(In May 1914
the LS&MS and NYC&HR were consolidated into the NYC proper; the
other subsidiaries were kept separate until 1935.) The cars in Lot 289-B
were renumbered to NYC255000-256749 starting in 1914. Starting in the late
teens the NYCL started to repair and recondition these cars as well as
other standard cars. The upgrades were done in a very standardized way and
eventually gave the NYCL wood body
boxcar fleet a strong family appearance. Unfortunately I have only come
across scattered drawings of some of the improvements in the New York
Central historical society drawing files, and no overall statements of how
and why the changes were made.

Typical improvements that can be noted visually include:

-Later style Murphy roof with flat seam caps-as opposed to the kind with
round seams and edge clips.Note that the seam caps are not evenly spaced.
NYC drawing N-38864 shows this roof. The cars as built had the Murphy old
style or an early design of the Hutchins all steel roof- the Hutchins was
used very extensively on both the 1910 and the 1912 cars; in fact it was
the only type used in the 11000 1910 cars. (I do wonder that this seemingly
advanced roof was replaced on so many cars-it seems like a regression to go
back to the “pivoted outside metal” type of roof.)

-Wood door with Camel#32 hardware and almost always 3 horizontal angle
stiffeners, also a wood door stop running the full height of the car side.
NYC drawing N-37037 shows this door.

-Many cars got Murphy steel ends with a rib pattern of 7 over 7 with the
rib inward. NYCL pioneered this type of end in 1912 and a few of the 1912
cars might have gotten them. The 1914 cars had them as built. You can often
tell if a steel end was as built or added later by looking at the rivets on
the end sill-original equipment ends have two rows of rivets and there is
more flat space at the top under the end fascia. Repair ends usually have
three rows of rivets and the flat space at the top is narrower.

-Cars that did not get steel ends had the existing end reinforced with two
heavy straps as is true of #256241. Sometimes these extended on the sides
all the way to the bolster center line, other times they were shorter as on
#256241. Note how there was a wood filler under them which made the
reinforcement thicker at the center of the end. There is a surviving
drawing for this –V-33859

-On most but not all cars metal straps were added to the bottom of the
siding on sides and wood sheathed ends. ( this detail is my bête-noir as a
modeler-the number of bolts and their spacing seems to vary on each
individual car. The only documentation I have ever found is a note on a
drawing that the bolts not be spaced more than 10” apart, and photos show
they didn’t always adhere to this. #256241 has a very neatly done
installation of this “sheathing retention strap”)

-Draft gear varied some cars were stenciled “tandem spring gear”, others
had Miner, Cardwell and other brands. Trucks were originally Bettendorf T
section or the Andrews L section with slanted journalbox tie bars. #256241
has Vulcan trucks which I have seen on many repaired NYCL cars.

Since these cars were built after 1911 they had the standard safety
appliances. The 1914 cars had ladders instead of individual grab irons.
Based on seeing many pictures the reconditioned cars mostly had individual
grab irons.

The lettering is the standard that the NYCL used, and is pretty self
explanatory. Before 1914, the reporting marks would have been LS&MS and
the dimension and equipment blocks of lettering were somewhat different.
One feature that is not so obvious is the letter “A” under the oval
trademark. The NYCL had in the 1920’s had their car fleet divided into 3
groups. There were cars with no distinguishing mark, those with a letter
“A” as on #256241, and those with an “S” preceding the car number. These
had two functions- one was to denote a maintainance cost limit with “S”
cars having the highest limit ( I believe this was 85% of the ARA/MCB value
of the car.) The “A” cars had a lesser limit, and no mark was the least
value. The “S” in the car number also signified that the car was at home
anywhere on the NYC Lines. Also, in general “S” cars were to not be sent
off the NYC Lines. As might be
expected the “S” cars were generally the largest and most up to date cars,
although many new built steel gondolas and flat cars were “A” cars from the
beginning. I also have a picture of a well worn wood boxcar with truss rods
which had an ”S” so there were exceptions to the rules as would be expected
in so large a car fleet.

Sources

What you are reading is the product of about 35 years of studying and
modeling the NYC car fleet of the 1920’s. My most basic reference is the
March 1924 freight equipment diagram book, which has been reprinted by the
New York Central System Historical Society of which I am a member. For the
1912 boxcars in particular, there are general arangements and many detail
drawings in the Car Builders Dictionaries for 1919, 1922 and others. NYCSHS
also has CD’s containing their archive of drawings most of which are from
the mid 20’s and later although there are some that apply to these cars. A
model supplier named Al Westerfield produced a CD of ACF builder’s photos
which has many of NYC cars
including many of the 1912 boxcars. I also have a lot of pictures from Rich
Burg of Flint,MI and others. I do recognize that there gaps in my knowledge
which is slanted toward external appearance and modeling. I wish I had more
information on the engineering development and modifications to these cars.
There are some articles in the “Railway Review “and “Railway Mechanical
Engineer” magazines but nothing really comprehensive. If you want I can
give you citations.

As for sorting the pictures for a database, I would suggest the main thing
you want to include on NYCL cars is the lot number if possible. Most cars
built after 1906 had them and I have the 1924 and 1944 classification books
so I can look up a car by number if you need to.

L.R. King 5-26- 16

--
Patrick McKnight
Historian/Archivist
Steamtown NHS
150 S. Washington Avenue
Scranton, PA

Phone: 570-340-5193
Check out Steamtown collection on NPGallery: https://npgallery.nps.gov/STE
A
Become a remote volunteer for Steamtown: https://www.volunte
er.gov/results.cfm?ID=17117

The employees of the National Park Service care for special places that are
the heritage of all Americans. Since its inception in 1916, the National
Park Service has been dedicated to the preservation and management of this
country's outstanding natural, historical, and recreational resources.


X4655.jpg

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