<P>In central Ohio there is an ex B&O Railway Express Agency car number 742. It is pretty ancient, probably teens, but is odd in that the end of the car opens up like a highway trailer does, with two swinging doors. the car is in rough shape, but is miraculously still in the B&O blue and grey passenger paint scheme.<p>The side door thresholds are interesting in that they're cast steel with Baltimore & Ohio cast into them in large letters.<p>I'm wondering if there are any other cars of this type still existing, what this car might have originally been used for, and when it might have been built. We're using it as a workshop right now, but it probably has about 10 years of life left before we will either have to do some major work on it or scrap it. If its rare and worth saving then perhaps a home could be found for the car.<br>

<P>I seem to remember seeing something on a car of that type sometime ago. I think it said they were used for transporting scenery for stage plays. The end doors allowed the sets to be loaded without danger of having large pieces bent or broken.<br>




kenneth.willis@marad.dot.gov

<P>Page 618, 1937 Car Builder's Cyc has seven photos of B&O 741. This was a "horse-express" car, AAR designation BH. There were horse stalls that could be folded up to permit the car to be used as a plain baggage car. PRR had many of these, all named after racing stables/farms-- Del Mar Turf Club, Glen Riddle Farm, Atlantic City Racing Association, each spelled out on the car side. NYC, C&NW also had horse cars. <p>A similar car was the "theatrical scenery car", which also had large end doors. These were used for just that purpose; the PRR again had a number of these, all carrying theatrical and opera-related names---- Richard III, Juliet, Wagner.<p>The horse and scenery cars usually had a squared-off roof end at the end where the large doors were. The NYC versions did not. A number of the NYC cars were converted to storage mail cars about 1959-60. One would up at the Valley RR in Connecticut, where it is used for food service and gift shop storage.<br>

<P>For the record; the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum in North Judson, Indiana also has one of these end-door baggage cars. NKP #344 was built by Pullman in 1929 and is lettered Automobile in addition to the designation Baggage and Railway Express Agency. HVRM member Bob Albert (also the Treasurer of the Nickel Plate Road Historical Society) states that the car doors opened to load autos. The car was used by the NKP until the N&W merger in 1964 and was converted to M-O-W service in 1969 as #526706. Norfolk Southern donated the car to HVRM in September of 1989. It is not certain how many cars the Nickel Plate had of this type but #344 is believed to be the only survivor. The museum has sanded the N&W paint on one side of the car to reveal the original NKP lettering and eventually intends to reletter the car into its original Pullman green paint with the NKP lettering. <br>




midlandblb@cs.com

<P>One of the PRR cars is on the Reading & Northern in PA.<p>Patch<br>

<P>I think the R&N car you are referring to is an NYC car-- if it has a clerestory roof, it's most likely an NYC end-door bag that BM&R had at S. Hamburg about 10-12 years ago. I think BM&R had a gen set in the car, to power lights for the DL&W MU excursion train. All the PRR baggs had round roofs.<br>