I am trying to obtain information on CofG's 40' boxcars wearing the plain boxcar red "Right Way" scheme with the large white block containing "Central of Georgia" to the right of the door (NOT the large oval scheme). Who constructed these cars and when were they built? What type of ends do they have (5-4, 5-5, etc.)? I am attempting to build HO scale models of these cars. Any photos or information (prototype or model) would be most appreciated.

-- Joe Daniels (4JM@home.com), July 07, 1999

Answers

Joe, the Central's boxcar's was a mixture of common and unusual cars. The Central started recieving steel cars in 1937, as Tom Alderman had pointed out. The 40'cars came from ACF,Pullman Standard and some C of Ga shop rebuilds. My data only goes through around 1961 so I can't confirm or deny that the CG got boxcars from Greenville, although they did get gons and woodchip cars from them. Since your request only specified 40'car I'll give you what I have. The 37' cars were from ACF based on a 32'AAR design, cars numbers were 4000-4499, these had a 6' door. The next lot of cars came in 1941 from P/S, car numbers 6500-6599 were with the unique door and a half design.In 1941 came another lot of cars,6000-6099 from P/S with a 6' door.The CG got a similar lot of cars in 1942 with the same specs in the number series 6100-6149. In 1944 the Central got another lot of door and a halfs from ACF in the number series 6300-6499 and similar cars from P/S in 1945 in the series 6600-6999. In 1953 they got their first PS- 1's in the number series 7300-8299 with an 8'door.It should be noted that the cars mentioned up until now were all delivered with the small monogram and reporting marks only. Things changed in 1954 with the Central adding the "Right Way" logo and the larger monogram to its boxcars. The cars from P/S in the number series 6208-6211 were the first 40'cars to carry the "Right Way" lettering from the factory. The CG continued to get 40' cars from P/S in 55', 56', and 57', all in Right Way lettering. I didn't go into the Central's more colorful paint schemes, The "Compartmentizer cars", the black and silver "Blimp cars", and the short lived "Money Saver" schemes. Microscale is supposed to do a new CG boxcar decal sheet soon. This will be one the best decal sheets you will see for freight cars. Look for upcoming articles in the CGRHS publication on this subject. If you need more information feel free to E-Mail me and I'll try to answer your questions. Todd

-- Todd Horton (Centga@aol.com), July 07, 1999.

Several 40' boxcar photos were found fitting your description - some built by Pullman-Standard and some by the Greenville Steele Car Company. One photo shows a builder's date of 8-37, but most were early 1950's.

-- Tom Alderman (Topa12283@aol.com), July 07, 1999.