Letters

[coolname]

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.

[Ski Mask]

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.

[type R]

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.

[sober]

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.

[imported_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

[porque]

...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?...

[lepthebeard]

...and qualudes...

[40ozbreath]

some good info i dont know what shit means i just know not to go over them

[ZedIsAlive]

Originally posted by lepthebeard
...and qualudes...

ummm, we might actually need to know a lot about that.

[EViLPRiCK]

to think you could actually learn something if their wasnt so many people dropping bullshit.

[R123N]

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