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Ed Hawkins provided a very detailed history of these cars on the STMFC site.
For those that don’t have access to that site, these cars started life as double door automobile cars with end doors, 1929. Most were rebuilt in 1941, with a few more in 1942 and 1945-46, at DeSoto. They were converted to single 6′ door, and the auxiliary door opening was filled with siding and a new Howe truss brace added, which was asymmetrical relative to the others due to the width of its span. This is visible on the wreck photo. What’s not visible is that the original vertical shaft handbrake was replaced with a Universal power handbrake, along with conversion to AB brake gear, both of which upgrades were normal for MP cars during this period. The end door was sealed closed and new end lining applied. The number series of these cars, as rebuilt, was 45251-45494.
There were at least two other series of cars that had similar rebuilding.
Ron Merrick
