Southern Railway Equipment Drawings and Photographs - Volume 1, Book 1-40' All-Steel Box Cars CNO&TP 40-ton 40' 6" Steel Automobile Box Cars 272000-272499 CNO&TP 40-Ton 40' 6" Steel Automobile Box Cars 272000-272499 Built by Pressed Steel Car Co. 1935. Card Record F-85 In 1935 Southern Railway System received its first all-steel box cars, CNO&TP series 272000-272499. These 500 cars from Pressed Steel Car Company (PSC) were 40-ton, 40 6 inside-length, steel-sheathed, double-door automobile box cars, with an inside height of 10 4. General Arrangement Drawing SF-1139 shows these cars had construction features of both the 1932 ARA box car design and earlier 1920 box car design. The side to the right of the door opening, with five riveted steel panels, is typical of the 9 1 to 9 4 inside height 1932 ARA box car design as well as the 10 inside height 1937 AAR box car design. Several series of composite (wood and steel) construction, steel underframe (SUF) Automobile cars were in service on the Southern when these all-steel cars joined the roster. Shipping assembled autos was an important business for the railroad with loads originating at Ford and General Motors assembly plants in Atlanta, Norfolk and Louisville. Cars 272000-272499 were purchased from Pressed Steel Car Co. in McKees Rocks, PA under two AFEs (Authorization For Expenditure); 6228 in May, 1935 and AFE 6315 in December, 1935. The minor price differences were most likely caused by variations in transportation and inspection costs and the cost of specalities used on the cars. Specalities include items such as the brake gear, couplers and truck components purchased from the carbuilder or from third parties. On new car orders, specality items could be ordered by the carbuilder, ordered directly by the Southern for delivery to the carbuilder or shipped from the railroad's new or used inventory. New racks for carrying auto bodies rather than completely assembled cars were installed in cars 272001, 002, 005, 013, 019, 038, 040, 043, 049, 061, 064, 070, 091, 100, 121, 125, 127, 164, 168, 199, 207, 224, 226, 228, 230, 233, 234, 245, 247, 250, 253, 279, 286, 297, 306, 321, 325, 327, 337, 363, 367, 371, 374, 396, 399, 403, 406, 413, 434, 439, 444, 451, 453, 458, 466, 470, 472, 475, 487 and 272492 under AFE 8635 in 1950. One more car in this group, 272080 received racks in 1953 and in 1954 272334 had an auto body rack installed. Cars 272030, 035, 102, 212, 222, 254, 261, 366, 404. 429, 469, 474, 476 and 272498 were the last to be adapted for auto body service, in 1955. Virtually all of theses auto body racks appear to have been removed from 1956 to 1959 so the cars were not in that service very long. (A typical practice because auto body styles changed constantly as did parts supply and assembly plant requirements.) Many 50' box cars were being equipped for auto parts service in this same time period so the need for these 40' cars would have dropped off considerably. In 1950, AFE 8635 installed tractor decks and chains in cars 272057 and 272147. Some of the cars began their third decade of service by being equipped with Damage Free (DF) loading equipment.. In 1956 DF hardware was installed in 272014, 233, 306, 314, 334, 337, 352, 382 and 272466. Car 272226 added DF equipment in 1958. In 1959 DF Loaders were applied to: 272070, 001, 184, 198, 216, 222, 239, 245, 259, 260, 280, 311, 366, 370, 384, 432, 494 and 272498. In 1960 cars 272062, 066, 213, 251, 319, 361, 363, 364, 377, 401, 440 and 272445 received DF Loaders. Southern accounting records describe the cars as: Automobile box, all steel body and underframe, 80000 lb. capacity, Lt. Wt. 53700 lb. 33 C.I. Wheels, Journals 5" x 9", Hutchins Steel Roof, Cast Steel Trucks, Westinghouse Air Brake, Miner Draft Gear, 42' 3" long, 9' 9-5/8" wide, Equipped with Evans Auto Loader for 4 cars, Pressed Steel Car Co. Builders. All were delivered with Evans Type A auto loaders by Pressed Steel Car Co. but most did not operate in that configuration past 1949. AFE 8539 removed auto racks from many of the 495 272000-272499 cars still on the CNO&TP roster in at that time. This is one of the CNO&TP 272000-272499 series cars built by Pressed Steel Car Co. in 1935 taken after the car was reweighed at Hayne Shops in May of 1953, probably when it was there to have its auto racks removed. We know that 272004 remained in service until after 1962. Although the car sports the second (1945) version of the SR Monogram, this is the third stencil scheme used on these cars. The first SR freight car drawing showing the monogram (for 1937 AAR design box cars) were not produced until 1938. As built, the cars did not have the monogram and AUTOMOBILE was stenciled approximately where THE in the monogram is painted. This car would have had the automobile stencil painted over when the racks were removed. Photographer and location unknown. Neg. T0169, Bob's Photo, Ansonia, CT (Used by permission) Page 22
Card Record F-85 (SR File 1-2714 for spec. F-120 and SF File 1-2724 for spec. F-126) is in the SRHA collection, it shows for following drawings for cars built to specs F-120, F-121 and F-126. Cars 272000-272499 were built to specification F-120. Drawings for this group of cars include: Card List F-85 CNO&TP 272000-272499 Diagram Book Page 30-F-8 9-E-43 Axle Marking 27-F-61 Journal Bearing Packing SF-1131* 12" Figures SF-1139* General Arrangement SF-1140* Brake Arrangement SF-1141 Steel Details SF-1142 Underframe Arrangement SF-1220* Underframe SF-1158* Monogram SF-1159* Monogram SF-1221* Monogram SF-1222* Monogram SF-2286 2 1/2" CU FT SF-2298 Draft Gear Arrangement SF-2315* Truck Arrangement. SF-2321* Auto Loader Installation Diagram SF-2322* End Arrangement SF-2323* Dreadnaught Steel End Arrangement SF-2324 Wood Details SF-2384 Method of Obtaining Additional Width Between Front Arms (Evans auto racks) SF-2870* Running Board Morton SF-3409 1" RPKD SF-3421 Coupler Striking Plate SF-3444* 3 1/2" Figures SF-3460 Door Starter Buffer SF-3463 Stenciling SF-3464 Truck Side Frame SF-3465 Brake beam SF-3466* Hand Brake Detail, Miner SF-3467 Ladders SF-3478 Method of Remodeling Auto Rack Frames SF-3482 Interlox Floor Clips SF-3485 Location & Detail of Floor Pocket Plates SF-3494 Auto Rack Leg Lock SF-3502* Stencil SF-3532* Miner Hand Brake SF-3908 Mod of Crossbearer Cover Plates SF-4006 Axle SF-4021 Brake Pin SF-4041 Brake Shoe SF-4681 Brake Lever Pin SF-4693 Grab Iron, End Sill SF-4696 Grab Iron SF-4876 Brake Lever Connection SF-4890 SF-5075* SF-5076 SF-5090* SF-5095* SF-5096* SF-5097 SF-5102* SF-5209 SF-7099 SF-20000* SF-20106* SF-40108 SF-40115 SF-40120 SF-40134 SF-40145 SF-40149 SF-40194 SF-40211 SF-40212 SF-40244 SF-40265 SF-40289 SF-40291 SF-40311 SF-40314 SF-40365 SF-40371 SF-40401* SF-40402* SF-40403* SF-40404* SF-40405 SF-40406 SF-40407* SF-40416 SF-40417 SF-40421 SF-40424 SF-40430 SF-40435 SF-40436 SF-40447* SF-40448* SF-40450* SF-40467 SF-40472 SF-40514 SF-40515 SF-40532 SF-40536 SF-40540 SF-40541 Flooring 12" SOUTHERN 8" AUTOMOBILE 3 1/2" Road Initials Hutchins Dry Lading Roof Door Arrangement Superstructure, Roof Details of Auto Rack Steel Details Side Sill Reinforcement Stenciling Stenciling Brake Lever Anchor Journal Bearing Wedge Brake Cylinder Push Rod King Pin Brake Lever Journal Bearing 2" BLT Brake Foot-Board Bracket Bolster Brake Cylinder Draft gear Follower Plate Brake Rod Jaw, Center & Top Grab Iron, Roof Brake Lever Guide Coupler Yoke Sill Step Coupler Key 3" CAPY 3" LD LMT 3" LT WT 3" Figures 3" SOUTHERN 2 1/2" EW & etc. 1 1/4" Figures Side bearing, Brace Side bearing, Body Draft Gear Carrier Running Board, Longitudinal Brake Connection Chain& Clevis Running Board Bracket Door Handle 2" Figures 2" SOU RWY 3" NEW Brake Beam Hanger Angle Cock Holder Door Starter Closing Arm Door Starter Closing Lever Door Starter Lever Fulcrum Door Stop Brake Lever Badge Plate Brake Lever Guide SF-40542 SF-40543 SF-40544 SF-40545* SF-40546 SF-40547 SF-40548 SF-40550 SF-40551 SF-40553 SF-40552 SF-40555 SF-40556 SF-40559 SF-40562 SF-40564 SF-40565 SF-40567 SF-40619 SF-40620 Truck Side Frame Marking Auto Loader Operating Cable Handle Brake Beam Strut Key Auto Loader Stenciling Push Pole Pocket Uncoupling Lever Bracket Uncoupling Lever Running Board Latitudinal Support Routing and Defect Cardboard Brake Release Rod Guide Plackard Cardboard Brake Release Rod Brake Step Brake Chain Brake Rod Hand brake Grab Iron Brackets End Lining Retainer Flooring, End Boards Coupler Hand Brake Drawing shown with * are included in this series of SR Drawing and Photo books. Drawings marked with # are used with these cars but were not included in the original Card List. Not all drawings are listed. Drawings that do not use the SF (freight car) prefix, such as 9-E-43, predate that drawing designation system. The earliest SF drawing in the SRHA collection is from 1906. SF-1 dates from the 1950s but it may be the first time numbers below SF-100 were assigned rather than a reuse of a drawing number. Only a very few examples of two drawings with the same designation have been found: all are thought to be errors. No comprehensive index of Southern Railway drawings is known to exist. The first digit of a drawing number denoted the size of the drawing, all numbers in a sequence may not have been used. For example, when an SF drawing series was filled, the next drawing in that size would simply have another zero added. With that system, SF-1999 would be followed by SF-10000- SF-10999. By the late 1960s, few carbuilder's drawings were traced or given a Southern title block and drawing number. There are hundreds of freight car drawings in the SRHA collection that do not use the SF prefix. Filing or finding drawings among those microfilm cards can be difficult because the various carbuilders' and parts vendors' drawing numbering systems are completely different and virtually defy logical cataloguing or filing.
Southern Railway Equipment Drawings and Photographs - Volume 1, Book 1-40' All-Steel Box Cars CNO&TP 40-ton 40' 6" Steel Automobile Box Cars 272000-272499 CNO&TP 40-ton 40' 6" Steel Automobile Box Cars 272000-272499, continued The first available record of retirements for the 272000-272499 cars shows 272695 as being retired destroyed (wrecked) in 1946 with 272300, and 272165 retired - destroyed in 1948. Cars taken off the books due to wrecks in 1950 and 1951 included 272336 and 272372. 1954 saw 272158, 119, 128, 317 and 272471 retired followed by 272420 and 272423 in 1955, 272454 in 1956, 272160 and 272407 in 1957 and 272040 in 1958. Cars 272025 and 272034 were removed from the accounting records in 1959. 1960 saw the end of cars 272039, 173, 249, 272258 (returned to service in 1962), 272278, 339, 341, 402, 413 and 272467 in 1960 and 272039, 121, 139 and 272311 in 1961. A July 25, 1960 Hayne Shop memo authorizes scrapping of all 272000 series cars identified as being heavy bad order. The results of that memo can be seen in the 1962 retirements that included; 272021, 022, 031, 037, 049, 051, 053, 068, 105, 107, 131, 187, 203, 217, 225, 240, 244, 262, 289, 308, 313, 335, 341, 397, 403, 415, 433, 438, 473, 479 and 272490. Note that official retirement dates, the source of this information, do not coincide with the date a piece of equipment was actually scrapped. The accounting changes could have been recorded when a car was condemned but not yet scrapped or may not have been changed until some time after the car was actually cut up. Because of this accounting time lag, cars coming back from condemned or destroyed status were not uncommon; the accounting entry was simply reversed. For example, if Hayne or Coster shop needed a car for nonrevenue service or to be rebuilt, they would go to their scrap lines and find a suitable candidate. If the records were not kept up to date, scrapped cars still on the books would eventually lead to memos and teletype messages asking Operating and Mechanical Department people if they had seen, or had records of that piece of equipment. Although not common, retired not located entries can be found in the Southern's accounting books. An exact inventory of a railroad's capital accounts was very important. Freight rates and tariffs were regulated by the ICC and were the result of how much a railroad had invested in equipment and physical plant. All data from CNO&TP Form 588 Sub-Schedule for Years 1940-1964 is from railroad accounting records in the SRHA Archives. SF-3502 Stenciling August 23, 1938 Cars 272000-272499 were delivered prior to the use of the Southern monogram on freight cars. A photo of 272999, with no monogram, is on page 142 the Kalmbach Publishing Co. reprint of the 1940 Car Builder's Cyclopedia. SF-3502 represents the second stencil scheme for 40' all steel double door auto cars 272000-272999. Card Record F-85 lists SF-3463 as the original stencil drawing for these cars. SF-3502 introduced the monogram to these 40' all steel cars when it replaced SF-3463 in August of 1938, about two months after the first box car stencil drawing showing the monogram was drawn for the initial order of 1937 AAR design box cars. SF-3463 is one of the few Southern Railway freight car drawings that is not in the SRHA collection in either original linen or microfilm formats. We can speculate that because the original position of the 8 AUTOMO- BILE lettering (SF-5076) was lower and more centered on the car side, the SF-3463 linen was modified and reissued as SF-3502 in 1938. The 12" size of the SOUTHERN road name (SF-5075) and road number lettering (SF-1131) used on these cars had been the standard for house car lettering since the turn of the century. The first revision of drawing SF- 20000 in December, 1957 (two pages over) changed the sizes of SOUTH- ERN to 18" and the road number to 14". Changing the size of letter and number stencils was not simply a case of expanding or reducing existing drawings. Individual drawings were made for each size and the characteristics of the letters and numbers; proportions, widths and other details were quite often changed to reflect the larger or smaller space available. The 12" SOUTHERN road name lettering is shown on SF-5075. The 12" numerals are shown on SF-1131. The 14" numbers and 18" lettering will be included in Southern Railway Equipment Drawings & Photos, Vol II, 50' Steel Box Cars. Note that the individual, full size, drawings for all letters and the SR monograms were used to produce the stencils (sheet zinc during this period) used by carbuilders and shops. Lettering shown on drawings such as SF-20000 were typically done free hand to show where the stencils were to be placed on the cars. In many cases, the lettering is not particularly accurate, or neatly drawn. It was intended to be used only for placement and as a reference to specific lettering drawings. Page 24
Southern Railway Equipment Drawings and Photographs - Volume 1, Book 1-40' All-Steel Box Cars CNO&TP 40-ton 40' 6" Steel Automobile Box Cars 272000-272499 SF-20000 Stenciling September 16, 1957 SF-3502, on the previous pages, shows the SOUTHERN road name and car number in 12" letters and figures. That drawing, made in 1938, continued the practice shown in the earliest house car stencil drawings in the SRHA collection; the road name is stenciled to the left of the door opening. SF-20000 was drawn in September, 1957. It shows the road name and number to the right of the double doors and the 5' diameter monogram to the left. This reversed stencil scheme was required because the new lettering changed the width of the SOUTHERN" lettering from 8' to 12', more space than was available on the left side of these double door cars. The first version of SF-20000 shows the new, 18", road name size. Revision A made in December, 1957, changed the road number from 12" to 14" and the spacing between the name and number from 12" to 10". (Note both the 3-25-58 and 4-11-58 memos from A.M. Carey and L. Stanley Crane (reproduced on the next page) mistakenly attribute the flipped stencil scheme to the road number size change. The numerals were not changed until Revision A so we know that was not the primary reason for SF-20000 being drawn.) This A.M. Cary to R.H. Hamilton memo dated August 16, 1957 was written immediately before the first versions of SF-20000, for cars 272000-272499 and SF- 20002 for 50-ton 50'-6" box cars 40000-40174 were drawn. It explains the reason for the reversed lettering on double door SOUTHERN box cars about as concisely as possible. Photographs of any Southern box car showing the post-monogram - pre block lettering stencil scheme are hard to find. This February, 1959 photo of 272189 was taken soon after the car was repainted and reweighed at Hayne that same month. The monogram was removed from the standard stencil scheme in October, 1958 and the block style lettering was introduced in January, 1960. No new box cars were delivered during that interval so only repaints or wreck rebuilds got this stencil scheme. Photographer unknown, Fayetteville, NC 2-22-59, Used by permission, Bob's Photo Ansonia, CT Photo FSOU 36 Page 26