coolname Posted August 29, 2004 Share Posted August 29, 2004 Does anyone know what the letter being stenciled on boxcars (maybe other kinds of fr8s too) means? I have seen them on CUOH boxes, possibly others... usually a B or a P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ski Mask Posted August 29, 2004 Share Posted August 29, 2004 one letter, usually surrounded by a box? if that sounds right, you're talking about the plate letter. A plate letter indicates the extreme outside dimensions of a car, so in a situation where car clearance may be a concern, the worker knows at a glance how large the car is. Its a standard system made by the AAR that all north american railroads adhere to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
type R Posted August 29, 2004 Share Posted August 29, 2004 those things used to be made out of brass in the early 1900's. i remember talking to someone that said he had one that was worth $700-$1000, but he couldnt find anyone to sell it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sober Posted August 29, 2004 Share Posted August 29, 2004 Originally posted by ese onA plate letter indicates the extreme outside dimensions of a car, so in a situation where car clearance may be a concern, wheelbase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelACKson Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 some shortline railroads carry sets of encyclopedias. encyclopedias are shipped according to what letter of the alphabet they deal with. for example, all encyclopedias about the letter J are shipped in the same boxcars and those boxcars are on specific routes so they stencil the letter right on the side. It gets real confusing somtimes when theres the odd encyclopedia edition that has e-em or en because then they have to stencil on two letters. anyway, a lot of encyclopedia trains are getting robbed (and the theifs target the more popular letters like e or a...basicly any vowel) so they might stop labeling them in hopes that the theifs wont risk breaking into the cars if theres a chance they'll get stuck with the shitty load of encyclopedias like x or y. that would suck. i read about it in trains! magazine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porque Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 ...exactly...that's why we see so few 'q' cars like the QGRY in the states...it a really uninteresting encyclopedia...i mean how much do you really need to know about quails and qatar?... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lepthebeard Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 ...and qualudes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
40ozbreath Posted August 30, 2004 Share Posted August 30, 2004 some good info i dont know what shit means i just know not to go over them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZedIsAlive Posted August 31, 2004 Share Posted August 31, 2004 Originally posted by lepthebeard ...and qualudes... ummm, we might actually need to know a lot about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EViLPRiCK Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 to think you could actually learn something if their wasnt so many people dropping bullshit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R123N Posted September 7, 2004 Share Posted September 7, 2004 Originally posted by nelACKson some shortline railroads carry sets of encyclopedias. encyclopedias are shipped according to what letter of the alphabet they deal with. for example, all encyclopedias about the letter J are shipped in the same boxcars and those boxcars are on specific routes so they stencil the letter right on the side. It gets real confusing somtimes when theres the odd encyclopedia edition that has e-em or en because then they have to stencil on two letters. anyway, a lot of encyclopedia trains are getting robbed (and the theifs target the more popular letters like e or a...basicly any vowel) so they might stop labeling them in hopes that the theifs wont risk breaking into the cars if theres a chance they'll get stuck with the shitty load of encyclopedias like x or y. that would suck. i read about it in trains! magazine WELL PUT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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