J #604 builders plate

[NW Mailing List]

One can only guess. The decision had to have been made prior to the building
of the 611-613 in 1950, as they are the first to show up with no builders
plates visible. The fact that they then proceeded to move them from their
existing locations on 11 J's and 22 K's indicates that they did not want
them visible on streamlined locomotives. Did somebody think their appearance
distracted from the streamlining? The only other possibility that occurs to
me is that they didn't want people to see how relatively old the K's were.
But if that were the reason, why would they start by moving them on brand
new J's? I have never been able to figure it out.          Jim Nichols

-----Original Message-----
From: nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org
[mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
Sent: Monday, September 21, 2009 7:10 PM
To: NW Mailing List
Subject: RE: J #604 builders plate

Any particular reason they moved them?

Mike Weeks
Greenville NC

"About 1950, N&W started moving the builders plates on the J's, K2's and
K2a's to just below the running board."