Reply To: Compare and contrast KO&G

[David Boeschen]

Thanks for the reply. I’d realized that the comments I recalled were part of an email exchange between Nate and I.

Here’s the MP diagram, drawn in 1966 after the merger. [attachment=0:6qve8yft]MP 4-1976 FRT CAR DGMS_Page_396.jpg[/attachment:6qve8yft]

A curious fact is that the cars were stenciled as RB (refrigerator, bunkerless) and are listed as RB in the MoPac SoE. Yet, they have belt rails and door bars according to the MP diagram, and the diagram calls them RBL (refrigerator, bunkerless, with loaders). A discussion on one of the groups.io forums a few weeks ago listed the minimum thickness of insulation that would qualify a car as RB(L) rather than just an XMI, and that they would earn a higher per diem when so equipped.

Another interesting discrepancy is that the diagram says the cars have roller bearing trucks, while all the photos taken several years later show solid bearing ASF A-3 trucks.

Now, bigger question. These five cars evidently were painted blue when built, or at least a couple of them were. I believe there were a few other KO&G boxcars (there only ever were just a few, of any type) that were painted aluminum. The relettered car in the photos above is probably painted aluminum, as near as I can tell, and the paintouts on the car sides are probably white or gray. So the question is, were some or all of these five, later four, cars repainted aluminum with black ends?

RG7