Stumbled across this old Armour reefer yesterday and was able to spend some "quality time" with her... I only had my cell camera, so the pics are less than good, but was wondering what this plate represented. It seems to be some sort of color-coded identification or something like that. Any solutions to the mystery???

that is a ACI (automated car idenfaction)lable a failed attempted at keeping track of rail cars with a track side scanner.
jim

that's it . they are not in use any more but can still be found on some older unshopped equipment.

They were used in the 1970s but the dirt and crud that collected on them made the scanners inaccurate. Anyone modeling from 1967 to 1977 would need the labels on most all rollingstock. The system was abandoned in 1977, but the labels persisted into the 1980s and 1990s, and every once in awhile, you may even see the remnants of one today on older cars.

Since 1994, there is an AEI system in place which has passive radio transmitters installed on rolingstock for identification.

Here's a link to some info, short and concise. <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://aeitag.stores.yahoo.net/aeirailhis.html">http://aeitag.stores.yahoo.net/aeirailhis.html</a><!-- m -->

Mystery solved, thanks boys...