The Big White Rectangle

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

David
    The big white rectangle painted on the car side was to identify that the 
car had air brakes

Larry Evans
Kenova WV
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
To: "'NW Mailing List'" <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2006 9:28 PM
Subject: The Big White Rectangle



> For about the first 20 years of the last century (and a bit before that) 

> N&W freight cars had a large white rectangle painted on them. The cars 

> delivered in 1893 didn't have the rectangle but the steel frame HD hopper 

> of 1896 did. The secondhand box cars N&W bought in 1895 may or may not 

> have had it. The last car to have it was the prototype GS battleship gon 

> built in September 1920, as the production GS gons did not have it.

>

> http://spec.lib.vt.edu/imagebase/norfolksouthern/F1/NS3519.JPG

> http://spec.lib.vt.edu/imagebase/norfolksouthern/glass_plates/screen/03GP0510.jpg

> http://spec.lib.vt.edu/imagebase/norfolksouthern/glass_plates/screen/03GP0528.jpg

>

> Why did N&W put that rectangle on every car it would fit on (box, stock, 

> hopper, and gon, but not flats)?

>

> David Thompson

>

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