In today's article on The Trackside Photographer, Stu Nicholson finds that, after the locomotive rolls by, it pays to stick around for the rest of the train because there may be proud, if faded, "Fallen Flags" in the consist.

http://thetracksidephotographer.com/201 ... flying-by/

Thanks,

Edd Fuller, Editor
The Trackside Photographer
http://thetracksidephotographer.com/

I actually think it was "fallen flag" engines and cars that inspired my initial interest in railroads, even though the Santa Fe didn't go through any mergers until the 90s I was 30 miles from the Streator connection in the 70s and had PC, Reading and EL power, and trains full of jade green PC cars, EL, Reading, LV, even NYC and PRR cars streaming past every day, plus NP, Q, GN, ACL, etc, etc., cars, and was 2 miles away from a former GM&O branch, all of this with very lax trespassing enforcement. I wonder if I was a kid now if I would ever have become a railfan.

In the link provided by the OP, there's a photo of CR 883745, a 2 pocket covered hopper. If one could do a little investigating, they would discover that those cars were built in the mid-1960's for the P.R.R. for use in bulk feed service. Back then, IIRC, they may have been numbered 261xxx. They shuffled back and forth from Bordentown, N.J. and Middletown, N.Y. delivering feed to the Agway Bulk Feed satellite depot located on the MNJ. Thanks for the post.

Some cars bear evidence of multiple previous owners:

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=3791528

Faded "bankruptcy blue" hoppers are still a common sight on grain trains in Western Canada, but probably not for long given the current plans to replace the old grain car fleet.

I also used to see a few of these in frac sand service out here, but haven't for a couple years now:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/rickm15/5639155502