FAIRPORT, PAINESVILLE & EASTERN
FREIGHT CAR ROSTER
Introduction
Fortunately for railfans there exists
a resource that can be used to figure out the chronological record of any
railroad's freight car roster: The Official Railway Equipment Register, or
ORER. The ORER is a periodical that has
been in continuous publication since 1884, and whose purpose is, with each new
issue, to give an up-to-date list of any given railroad's freight cars (but
only the freight cars that can be interchanged with other railroads; railcars
that are permanently kept on an owner's rails—such as 'work cars' or
cabooses—are not included in the ORER).
So by looking through a collection of ORER issues, you can basically
reconstruct a historical roster for your favorite railroad.
The FP&E
registered their freight cars in the ORER from 1926 (the first year the
FP&E was listed in the series) to 1965; after the April 1965 edition the
FP&E entries in all subsequent ORER editions state "Freight cars owned
are not used in interchange service."
The time span covered by the ORER leaves a couple of voids or gaps in
the FP&E's freight car roster history: one for the period 1912 to 1925, and
another for the period 1965 to 1984.
But thanks to another resource I found—the Annual Reports that the
FP&E had to file with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (for more
about these reports see my FP&E Resources
page)—I have been able to somewhat fill in these gaps. I say "somewhat" because the
Annual Reports only provide a simple tally of freight cars by car type rather
than showing a detailed breakdown of freight cars as found in the ORER—but it
is better than nothing (and as an added bonus, the Annual Reports tally all
cars—not just interchangable freight cars).
Since
the ORER data is very specific, whereas the Annual Report data is more general,
I have decided to present the ORER and Annual Report roster information in
separate sections. Following the roster
sections is some information about the other types of cars the FP&E owned.
ORER Rosters
Below are a series of charts showing
the FP&E's freight car roster based on data from the ORER between 1926 and
1965. The dates on the right-hand
columns represent the dates of the data that the FP&E submitted to the
ORER, not necessarily the date of the ORER issue. (For more details about FP&E entries in various editions of
the ORER, see my
FP&E Resources page.) "MCB
Type" is a detailed descriptive code assigned to all freight cars by the
Master Car Builder's Association; "AAR Type" is also a detailed
descriptive code for freight cars developed by the MCBA's successor, the
Association of American Railroads – Mechanical Division. Below the charts I have included
descriptions of the MCB and AAR codes that are shown; I got them from a master
list of codes compiled from various ORER editions by John Russell on his
website (visit his site here).
Chart 1
|
Road Numbers |
Description |
MCB |
Length |
Load Capacity |
Cubic |
3/26 |
11/26 |
2/27 |
5/28 |
8/28 |
9/30 |
|
200-299 |
Open-top Hopper (4-bay) |
HT |
42' |
70 tons |
2508 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
100 |
99 |
|
300-399 |
Open-top Hopper (2-bay) |
HM |
31' 2" |
50 tons |
1660 |
|
50 |
100 |
99 |
99 |
99 |
|
501-506 |
Open-top Hopper (2-bay) |
HM |
32' 10" |
70 tons |
1817 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
X |
X |
X |
|
Open-top Hopper (side-unloading) |
HD |
|
|
|
6 |
6 |
6 |
||||
|
507-584 |
Open-top Hopper (2-bay) |
HM |
33' |
50 tons |
1660 |
46 |
45 |
45 |
41 |
41 |
40 |
|
600-611 |
Gondola (drop-bottom) |
GA |
40' 9" |
50 tons |
1710 |
|
|
|
12 |
12 |
X |
|
Gondola |
GKA |
|
|
12 |
|||||||
|
612-613 |
Gondola |
GB |
37' 4" |
50 tons |
1108 |
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
|
700-749 |
Gondola |
GKA |
41' 7" |
40 tons |
1800 |
|
|
|
|
|
50 |
NOTES: As mentioned on my FP&E History page the 200-series hoppers acquired in 1926 came from
Diamond Alkali. If data I found about
early standard hoppers (as compiled by James David Thompson) is reliable, then
it looks like the 300-series hoppers were bought new by the FP&E (click here to view a photo
of one).
Chart 2
|
Road Numbers |
Description |
MCB |
Length |
Load Capacity |
Cubic |
10/30 |
1/31 |
7/31 |
7/32 |
7/37 |
4/38 |
7/39 |
|
200-299 |
Open-top Hopper (4-bay) |
HT |
42' |
70 tons |
2508 |
99 |
99 |
99 |
98 |
98 |
98 |
98 |
|
300-399 |
Open-top Hopper (2-bay) |
HM |
31' 2" |
50 tons |
1660 |
99 |
99 |
99 |
98 |
96 |
96 |
96 |
|
501-506 |
Open-top Hopper (side-unloading) |
HD |
32' 10" |
70 tons |
1817 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
|
507-584 |
Open-top Hopper (2-bay) |
HM |
33' |
50 tons |
1660 |
39 |
39 |
37 |
36 |
21 |
15 |
11 |
|
600-611 |
Gondola |
GKA |
40' 9" |
50 tons |
1710 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
|
612-613 |
Gondola |
GB |
37' 4" |
50 tons |
1108 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
700-749 |
Gondola |
GKA |
41' 7" |
40 tons |
1800 |
50 |
45 |
45 |
45 |
45 |
45 |
45 |
|
750-754 |
Gondola |
GKA |
41' 7" |
50 tons |
1800 |
|
5 |
5 |
5 |
X |
X |
X |
|
40 tons |
1800 |
|
|
|
|
5 |
5 |
5 |
||||
|
755-771 |
Gondola |
GKA |
43' 4" |
40 tons |
1818 |
|
|
|
|
|
17 |
17 |
|
772-779 |
8 |
0 |
||||||||||
|
1000-1003 |
Boxcar |
XM |
42' 7" |
40 tons |
2754 |
|
|
|
|
2 |
3 |
4 |
Chart 3
|
Road Numbers |
Description |
AAR |
Length |
Load Capacity |
Cubic |
1/46 |
10/49 |
7/52 |
4/53 |
7/54 |
7/56 |
|
200-299 |
Open-top Hopper (4-bay) |
HT |
42' |
70 tons |
2508 |
32 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
300-399 |
Open-top Hopper (2-bay) |
HM |
31' 2" |
50 tons |
1660 |
96 |
96 |
95 |
95 |
94 |
94 |
|
501-506 |
Open-top Hopper (side-unloading) |
HD |
32' 10" |
70 tons |
1817 |
6 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
507-584 |
Open-top Hopper (2-bay) |
HM |
33' |
50 tons |
1660 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
600-611 |
Gondola |
GT |
40' 9" |
50 tons |
1710 |
12 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
|
700-754 |
Gondola |
GTC |
41' 7" |
40 tons |
1800 |
47 |
42 |
36 |
35 |
31 |
22 |
|
755-771 |
Gondola |
GTC |
43' 4" |
40 tons |
1818 |
17 |
16 |
16 |
16 |
14 |
7 |
Chart 4
|
Road Numbers |
Description |
AAR |
Length |
Load Capacity |
Cubic |
10/60 |
7/61 |
10/62 |
10/63 |
1/64 |
1/65 |
|
300-399 |
Open-top Hopper (2-bay) |
HM |
31' 2" |
50 tons |
1660 |
94 |
94 |
94 |
94 |
94 |
94 |
|
507-584 |
Open-top Hopper (2-bay) |
HM |
33' |
50 tons |
1660 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
600-611 |
Gondola |
GT |
40' 9" |
50 tons |
1710 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|
700-754 |
Gondola |
GTC |
41' 7" |
40 tons |
1800 |
20 |
19 |
19 |
16 |
15 |
0 |
|
755-771 |
Gondola |
GTC |
43' 4" |
40 tons |
1818 |
7 |
7 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
MCB & AAR Codes
MCB Types
HD = An Open
Top Self-Clearing Car, having fixed sides and ends, and bottom consisting of
two or more divided hoppers with doors hinged lengthwise of car and dumping
outside of rails. Doors each side of car arranged to operate in more than one
unit.
HM = An Open
Top Self-Clearing Car, having fixed sides and ends, and bottom consisting of
two divided hoppers with doors hinged crosswise of car and dumping between
rails.
HT = An Open
Top Self-Clearing Car, having fixed sides and ends and bottom consisting of
three or more divided hoppers with doors hinged crosswise of car and dumping
between rails.
GA = An Open
Top Car having fixed sides and ends and drop bottom, consisting of doors hinged
crosswise of car to dump between rails.
GB = An Open
Top Car, having fixed sides and ends and solid bottom, suitable for mill trade,
but not having sufficient cubic capacity to carry its marked capacity of
bituminous coal.
GKA = An Open
Top Car, having fixed sides and ends and solid bottom, not suitable for mill
trade and having sufficient cubic capacity to carry its marked capacity of
bituminous coal.
XM = A Box
Car; a house car for general service and especially for lading requiring
protection from the weather and equipped with side or side and end doors.
AAR Types
HD = An Open
Top Self-Clearing Car, having fixed sides and ends, and bottom consisting of
two or more divided hoppers with doors hinged lengthwise of car and dumping
outside of rails. Doors each side of car arranged to operate in more than one
unit.
HM = An Open
Top Self-Clearing Car, having fixed sides and ends, and bottom consisting of
two divided hoppers with doors hinged crosswise of car and dumping between
rails.
HT = An Open Top
Self-Clearing Car, having fixed sides and ends and bottom consisting of three
or more divided hoppers with doors hinged crosswise of car and dumping between
rails.
GT = An Open
Top Car, having high fixed sides and ends and solid bottom, suitable for unloading
coal on dumping machines only, but not suitable for mill trade.
GTC = An Open
Top Car, having high fixed sides and ends and solid bottom, equipped with coke
racks, suitable for unloading on dumping machines only, but not suitable for
mill trade.
Annual Report Rosters
Below are two charts
with data compiled from the FP&E's Annual Reports that help to fill in the
gaps in the ORER's roster information.
The Annual Reports are only available through 1974, so unfortunately I
have no roster information for the final ten years of the FP&E's existence.
1912-1924
|
Car Type |
6/12 |
6/13 |
6/14 |
6/15 |
6/16 |
12/16 |
12/17 |
12/18 |
12/19 |
12/20 |
12/21 |
12/22 |
12/23 |
12/24 |
|
Boxcars |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Flatcars |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Hoppers |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
8 |
8 |
58 |
58 |
71 |
67 |
62 |
59 |
57 |
|
Tankers |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
NOTE:
The six hoppers acquired in 1916 were #501-506; the additional hoppers
acquired in 1918 and 1920 were the #507-584 series.
1965-1974
|
Car Type |
12/65 |
12/66 |
12/67 |
12/68 |
12/69 |
12/70 |
12/71 |
12/72 |
12/73 |
12/74 |
|
Boxcars |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
300-series Hoppers |
94 |
90 |
86 |
44 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
800-series Hoppers |
0 |
0 |
0 |
35 |
70 |
70 |
80 |
80 |
80 |
67 |
|
Tankers |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
NOTES: All the cars on this chart were only allowed to be used on
FP&E rails. As explained in the
"Randall Jackson" section on my FP&E Operations page
the 800-series were ex-N&W H-9 hoppers (click here
to view a photo of one); also in that section is more about the boxcar and the
tank car.
Non-Freight Cars
Caboose
During its existence
the FP&E had only two cabooses: one which they acquired in 1931, and a
second one that was acquired in 1959 to replace the first caboose. The more recent caboose is the one that is
pictured in my flickr photos: seen here as FP&E #2;
and seen here
after it was repainted and renumbered #200 (according to Randall Jackson, whom
I introduce on my FP&E
Operations page, the FP&E's President ordered the caboose to be
repainted and renumbered sometime after 1969; it may have been at the same time
that the diesels were repainted in the yellow-and-black paint scheme in late
1971). Because the Annual Reports do
not give specifics, it is unknown where each of the FP&E's cabooses came
from; and since the Annual Reports after 1974 are missing I do not know when
#200 was retired.
Maintenance of Way
The number of
maintenance of way cars on the FP&E fluctuated over the years, but from
1950 until 1984 they had one—and from 1960 until 1984 that single car was crane
car X104 (click here
to see a photo of it).
Created by Scott Nixon
July 2009
Updated:
October 2010, April 2011