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 on a regular basis) 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 former website).
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
Cabooses
During its
existence the FP&E had only two cabooses: one
that was acquired in 1931, and a second one that was acquired in 1959 to
replace the first caboose. Thanks mainly
to the information gathered by Dwight Jones in his books Encyclopedia of B&O Cabooses: Volume 6 and Chesapeake & Ohio
Cabooses: 90700 Series (co-authored by Phil Samuell), I've been able to
figure out the origins of both cabooses.
The FP&E's first caboose was numbered X102,
and a picture of it can be found here. It began life as a Class I-1 caboose built by
the B&O in November 1912 as road number C-29 (the
second caboose to have that number). It
was renumbered C-1811 in January 1925, then retired and sold to the FP&E in March 1931.
(If you are able to obtain Dwight's B&O
caboose book mentioned above, on page 34 you'll see the actual bill of sale!)
Due to its age
at the time that the FP&E retired and replaced it
in 1959, I'm assuming that it was scrapped in that year.
The second
caboose the FP&E obtained is pictured in many of
my flickr photos: seen here
shortly after the FP&E obtained it (with a
cupola!) as FP&E #2, seen here
several years later in full color but sans cupola, 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).
From what information I've been able to gather, I think a strong case
can be made that this caboose began life as C&O
90780, which was built on November 24, 1924; it was sold to the Toledo Terminal
Railroad on December 8, 1954, where it was repainted and renumbered 176. Caboose #176 was retired by Toledo Terminal
in 1959 and sent to a scrapper—but I believe instead of being scrapped, it was
bought by the FP&E (from what I've learned, it is
not uncommon for scrappers of railroad equipment to sell locomotives or
railcars in the 'used equipment market').
Caboose #200
remained on FP&E property all the way to the end
of the railroad's existence, when it was purchased by Paul Hach of Hach
Excavating & Demolition for display purposes. The Hach facility has been on
Fairport-Nursery Road since the late 1970s
(essentially 'in front of' the southern portion of FP&E's
West Yard), and the caboose has been and continues to be on display at their
facility to this very day. Many years ago the caboose was renovated, but unfortunately the
renovators thought it was an ex-Nickel Plate caboose, and so the paint scheme
and the cupola are not correct.
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, June 2021