12-24-2009, 10:09 PM
As far as I know, the 40 year rule applied to the car's underframe. The car body could be repaired, modified, or replaced completely, but if it continued to re-use the original frame, it had to be taken out of interchange service after 40 years. On the other hand, a car whose frame was rebuilt or replaced was considered to be "new", and consequently received a new BLT. date.
An example of this would be the car shown below:
![[Image: X-29boxcar-154.jpg]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/doctorwayne/X-29%20boxcars/X-29boxcar-154.jpg)
From the outward appearance of this X-29 boxcar, especially the plate ends, this car was built to the 1924 design. Such cars were built into 1928, when the design was changed to use, among other things, ribbed ends.
I was initially confused by the BLT. date shown on the car, though:
![[Image: June2009railroadvacation074.jpg]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/doctorwayne/X-29%20boxcars/June2009railroadvacation074.jpg)
The car displays some attributes of the 1928 design (which was used well into the '30s), such as updated doors and door stops, power handbrake gear, etc., but the ends definitely place the BLT. date somewhere between 1924 and 1928. I was assured that the BLT date shown was authentic, so I built the model to reflect this. However, further investigation revealed (too late, unfortunately, to add the changes to the finished model) that a number of X-29 boxcars in freight service had had their underframes rebuilt in 1934, prior to being placed in express service. That explains both the visible upgrades mentioned and the reason for the 1934 BLT. date on what otherwise appeared to be an older car.
As Charlie has noted, upgraded cars didn't always readily reveal their modifications. Pennsy's H21a quad hoppers, introduced in 1911, were rated at 70 tons. By 1917 they had 30,000 of them in service. In 1922 and 1923, the earlier H21 50 ton hoppers were converted to H21as by replacing the 50 ton trucks with 70 ton trucks, a change probably not all that noticeable to the average fan at trackside. These latter cars, some dating back to 1909, could have remained in interchange service until 1949, although it's doubtful that many did: coal is a corrosive substance, so many cars probably wore out before their frame-life expired.
Wayne
An example of this would be the car shown below:
From the outward appearance of this X-29 boxcar, especially the plate ends, this car was built to the 1924 design. Such cars were built into 1928, when the design was changed to use, among other things, ribbed ends.
I was initially confused by the BLT. date shown on the car, though:
The car displays some attributes of the 1928 design (which was used well into the '30s), such as updated doors and door stops, power handbrake gear, etc., but the ends definitely place the BLT. date somewhere between 1924 and 1928. I was assured that the BLT date shown was authentic, so I built the model to reflect this. However, further investigation revealed (too late, unfortunately, to add the changes to the finished model) that a number of X-29 boxcars in freight service had had their underframes rebuilt in 1934, prior to being placed in express service. That explains both the visible upgrades mentioned and the reason for the 1934 BLT. date on what otherwise appeared to be an older car.
As Charlie has noted, upgraded cars didn't always readily reveal their modifications. Pennsy's H21a quad hoppers, introduced in 1911, were rated at 70 tons. By 1917 they had 30,000 of them in service. In 1922 and 1923, the earlier H21 50 ton hoppers were converted to H21as by replacing the 50 ton trucks with 70 ton trucks, a change probably not all that noticeable to the average fan at trackside. These latter cars, some dating back to 1909, could have remained in interchange service until 1949, although it's doubtful that many did: coal is a corrosive substance, so many cars probably wore out before their frame-life expired.
Wayne