Phase III Coal Cars - as built

[Todd A Ferguson]

Looking for any photos of Phase III coal cars as built.  I assume that they were built without the chain roller based on the underframe drawing in Grandts freight car book.  Curious how soon they started being revised to the USSA configuration being that they were so new.

Best,
Todd

[Jim Courtney]

Todd, I believe the drop dead date for conforming to the USSA hardware requirements was 1916.

That's about the time that all the remaining inherited cars, for the most part the Peninsular 30' box, coal and flat cars, were stricken from the roster, to avoid the expense of conversion. But many of these cars were converted to work equipment, not subject to the requirement, as they were not used in commerce.

[Todd A Ferguson]

Thanks Jim.  I think the requirements were passed in 1911, but I thought I read something about the railroads being slow to adopt and meet the deadline.  Maybe the war was a factor or just lax enforcement.

4526 is in a 1917 photo in Grandt page 63.  But too dark to tell very much.  Probably updated by then too.

Todd