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Hi everyone,
The story remains the same as far as photos go with three varieties of tri-level auto racks to compare. The more I study the two 89'4" flatcar based racks, the more I learn that these cars have a bit of history to them. I found it hard to believe that 20'2" tall racks were around in 1966 but easy to believe that Santa Fe 89'4" flats existed then. Del Grosso's book has separate listings for racks, and from that information I believe that the racks on both of the 89'4" flatcars featured today were built in 1986. I'm still not entirely sure about that date for the 20'2" tall rack. That said, I can now be a little more descriptive about the following cars. BNSF 303071 is a standard tri-level with a class TL-14 rack (BNSF 30225-30271), BNSF 306039 is an extra-tall tri-level with a 20' 2" class TL-13 rack (BNSF 30215), and BNSF 314030 is a two unit articulated "Auto Max" tri-level. The lettering that gives clues about the racks mounted on the flats is mostly too small to read on a 798x532 image, however they are easier to read on the 3072x2048 master scans assuming my focus is sharp and angle is good. I'm finding that I do have some problems in both areas, so I won't have complete info on racks. Had I chosen to shoot the other end, I'd know the rack number of the TL-14 rack, and with that number I would be able to find that the rack is from that class. The flats also appear to have class info on them, but Del Grosso's book does not include class of the flats in most cases. This info on the class of flats will help when I start on the TTX flats with BNSF racks. Hopefully my modest ORER collection will have dates and other info on them. Enjoy! |
