When the CA&E began to discontinue use of the big folding signs on the ends of the wood cars about 1950, they were replaced by smaller signs mounted on brackets in front of the motorman. 
They're not very big; the letters are only 2" tall. Each sign is 3" x 19"; one had Local and Express on the two sides, the other had Limited, and I'm not sure what else, maybe Extra. Since the 36 and 319 no longer have their folding signs, these smaller signs are what we need for those cars.
It appears that they weren't kept on the cars, since most pictures don't show them. I believe the motorman must have had a set which he would just mount in front of him, and then take with him when the run was over.
Unfortunately, these signs are very hard to find. There seem to be none in the IRM collection. But I was able to borrow one from a friend, measure it and scan in the lettering. So now I'm ready to make reproductions. I decided to make two sets to begin with.
It appears that they weren't kept on the cars, since most pictures don't show them. I believe the motorman must have had a set which he would just mount in front of him, and then take with him when the run was over.
Unfortunately, these signs are very hard to find. There seem to be none in the IRM collection. But I was able to borrow one from a friend, measure it and scan in the lettering. So now I'm ready to make reproductions. I decided to make two sets to begin with.
R&B Metals produced four blanks to my specifications, and here they are in the process of being painted. I'll letter them by hand. On the right, you also see one of the brackets that hold the signs behind the window. I may be short some of those, also. This one was in the 309, where it is no longer needed.And if anybody would like to send in some pictures of originals, particularly the Limited sign, that would be great!
4 comments:
So cars ran in blue with the smaller front signs? I never knew that.
This was bound to come up sooner or later. Yes, there are pictures of cars in the blue paint scheme without the folding signs, so I would assume they must have had the smaller signs instead. (If you're not a nitpicker, you can stop reading now.)
When they stopped using the dash lights, either the castings were removed and the siding was replaced, or the castings remained and the lenses were painted over or replaced with flat pieces of sheet metal or wood, painted to match the siding. In many cases, such as our other four cars, the bulbs were left in place. They light up when the dome light is off, but are hidden inside the wall. On the 36, however, a new bulb was installed at each end inside the car, which is lit whenever the vestibule dome light is off. I do not know whether the wiring to the dash light was removed or is defective, but if it's still there, I'm not sure I want to try using it. And if there's a problem, I would have to disassemble the end of the car to fix it. So we're sticking with the current wiring.
For the later blue paint scheme, it appears the most likely configuration is to have the casting in place, with the lens painted over. I'll have to get around to that at some point. The lens will not have to light up, and the folding signs are no longer there.
Now if somebody can demonstrate that this is not correct, I'll have to rethink things.
Interesting. The 36, in Washington Blue, but with a black roof, the modern "tan" interior and the small signs represents an interested "in between" phase of the wood cars.
After a quick scan through the Johnson collection of photos, I have as a minimum the following cars in this arrangement, with the blue paints scheme and window signs: 20, 54, 303, 315, and 318. The 36 was in this version less than four years, so we haven't found any pictures of it yet.
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