First there is a build date…self explanatory. What does the reporting mark “RA” indicate, as in RA 11-52, etc? An educated guess would say this was the date/year when some type of overhaul and or update on the car was done?
Thanks as always ----Rob
That line identifies the location and date that the wheel bearings were repacked. Exactly where ‘RA’ was, deponent saith not.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
If the notation follows the LT.WT., it applies to the re-weigh station where the car was last weighed, as in the photo below:
If it’s found in the repainted box (black, in this case) above the truck on the right end of the car, it refers to the date and place where the axle journals were last repacked, as mentioned by Chuck. When both appear on a car, they could be either from the same date and location, or different dates, and possibly different locations.
Incidently, your “RA 11-52” indicates, depending on its location on the car, either re-weighing or re-packing in November, 1952, at Radford, Va., on the Norfolk & Western
Wayne
That would be the railroad’s shop code for the shop that performed the weighing of the car after maintenance repair. The date is the date the car was weighed.
It’s not a reporting mark.
Great stuff guys,
Though I’ve loved trains for years, it is only recently that I am really getting into the “how, when and why” of the hobby. Watching trains is great, but there is something that makes the hobby even better when you know “why” your trains are running. ----Rob