Re: C&S boxcar joins the Navy! But what color??

Posted by Jim Courtney on Aug 20, 2024; 6:05am
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Two-more-C-S-boxcars-found-tp14458p20066.html

While surfing the web, I stumbled upon this iconic photo:




The USS Yorktown is in drydock at Pearl Harbor following the Battle of the Coral Sea, where the carrier sustained bomb and torpedo damage. The Yorktown is undergoing emergency repairs to allow her to participate in the upcoming Battle of Midway, where she will be sunk. Note the 3-foot gauge boxcars on the pier alongside.

A companion photo from the ship:




On the pier, where a pair of Gridley class destroyers are birthed, are two strings of narrow gauge boxcars. I've squinted and strained but can't identify with confidence any C&S or D&RGW cars in the cuts of cars. As this is late May, 1942, the rolling stock from Colorado may not have yet made it to Oahu.

Imagine, after a life of hauling freight over Boreas and Fremont Passes, to end your days moving 20 mm, 40 mm and 5-inch ammunition from the inland ammunition dumps to warships alongside. Hardly a tropical retirement . . .