Boston & Maine Railroad
Freight Car Lettering
Part 1
1900-1930
An Addendum to B&MRRHS Modelers Notes Issue #72, May/June 2001
Introduction
Tim Gilbert's 2001 article, "The 1900-1956 Evolution of B&M's Freight Car Heralds", went a long way to document important changes in the manner in which the B&M lettered its freight cars. However, as these things go, additional photos and data have come to light in the years since he collected those resources in one convenient location. This article's purpose is to offer revisions based on new evidence that modify some of Tim's conclusions.
Railroads were businesses first, and freight car lettering was foremost a means to convey important information to employees, of both the home road and that of interchanging lines. Much of that information was necessitated by accounting and operational needs and mandated by interchange rules. Changing the manner in which cars were lettered subjected the owner to costs, and so railroads did not change their stenciling without cause. An understanding of some of the causes sheds light on how, when, and why lettering changes occurred on the B&M and other railroads.
Freight Car Lettering Standards
In his article, Tim referenced several dates which he assigned to a variety of changes in lettering standards. Some additional clarification is warranted.
The "1911 Federal Railway Safety Act" did not significantly address freight car lettering. Rather, the third Railway Safety Appliance Act, dating to 1910 (the first having been passed in 1893; the second in 1903,) mandated certain safety equipment installations. As a result, the I.C.C. issued an order in March 13, 1911 detailing the steps, grab irons, running boards, hand brakes, etc. that would henceforth be required on rail cars.1 (Note: as with the lettering herein discussed, the presence or lack of such equipment in the prescribed locations is a vital photo-dating tool for railroad historians and modelers, but this article will not delve into such equipment.)
On the other hand, the Master Car Builder's Association, a voluntary trade group, did issue Recommended Practices and Standards for a variety of railway car components and construction methods, and revised and updated such regularly until those Standards became superceeded by those issued by subsequent organizations such as the A.R.A and A.A.R. Aspects of lettering, marking, and stenciling were included beginning as early as 1893.2 Relevant MCB sheets included B, A, M, and G, when the lettering was only a Recommended Practice, and 26, 26A, 26B, and 27, once it was advanced to a Standard. Important revisions were published in 1908, 1920 and 1926.3
Figure 1: MCB Recommended Practices & Standards
Hovering over blue link will display MCB text on the page.
(It's a little wonky, but I'm trying to build my html skills here!)
| Date | MCB/ARA Lettering & Marking Practice |
Recommended Practice or Standard |
Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1893 2 |
Marking Cars
 Marking Cars Fast Freight Line Cars 
|
RP RP |
Established Established, MCB Sheet B |
| 1896 3 |
Marking Cars Fast Freight Line Cars Stenciling Cars 
|
RP RP |
Moved to MCB Sheet A Established |
| 1901 4 |
Stenciling Cars
|
Standard | Redesignated from RP |
| 1902 5 |
Stenciling Cars,
first page,
second page,
third page
|
Standard | Revised |
| 1906 6 |
Stenciling Cars,
first page,
second page,
third page
6Stenciling Cars 
|
Standard RP |
Revised Established, MCB Sheet M |
| 1908 |
Stenciling Cars
7Marking on Freight Equipment Cars 
7Marking Cars Fast Freight Line Cars 
x
|
Standard RP N/A |
Revised Established, MCB Sheet G Deleted |
| 1909 |
Stenciling Cars
8
|
Standard | Revised, MCB Sheet 26 |
| 1911 |
Stenciling Light Weight of Cars
4Lettering Cars 
4Lettering Cars
4
|
?? Standard Standard |
Established Renamed, MCB Sheet 26 Established, MCB Sheet 27 |
| 1913 |
Marking on Freight Equipment Cars
Marking on Freight Equipment Cars |
Standard |
Redesignated, MCB Sheet 26, 27 |
Figure 1A: MCB Recommended Practices & Standards
Alternative approach
| MCB/ARA Lettering & Marking Practice |
Recommended Practice or Standard |
Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marking Cars | RP |
Established
|
1893 2 |
|
Marking Cars Fast Freight Line Cars |
RP RP RP |
Established, MCB Sheet B
Moved to MCB Sheet A Deleted
|
1893
2 1896 3 1908 7 |
|
Stenciling Cars Lettering Cars |
RP Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard Standard |
Established
Redesignated from RP Revised, first page,
second page,
third page
Revised, first page,
second page,
third page
Revised Revised Renamed, MCB Sheet 26
|
1896
3 1901 4 1902 5 1906 6 1908 7 1909 8 1911 9 |
|
Stenciling Cars Lettering Cars |
RP Standard |
Established, MCB Sheet M
Renamed, Redesignated from RP, MCB Sheet 27
|
1906
6 1911 9 |
| Marking on Freight Equipment Cars | RP |
Established, MCB Sheet A
|
1908 7 |
| Stenciling Light Weight of Cars | RP |
Established
|
1911 9 |
| 1913 |
Marking on Freight Equipment Cars
Marking on Freight Equipment Cars |
Standard |
Redesignated, MCB Sheet 26, 27 |
Figure 2: B&M Lettering & Marking Practices
| Date | MCB/ARA Lettering & Marking Practices | B&M Characteristic | B&M Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| pre-1909 | No Lettering-Number-Capacity-LightWeight lettering group. | High single line 9" roadname, 9" number. | Xm 63214, Gm 39790 |
| 1909 | Lettering-Number-Capacity-LightWeight lettering group introduced. | Low single line 9" roadname over 7" number. | Xm 66169, Gs 80022 |
| 1911 | "United States Safety Appliances" notation introduced. | Safety appliances and stencil. | Xm 67771 |
|
1913 |
"NEW" added to weight. |
not on reweighed cars. Arrow herald with "Railroad" introduced. |
No Arrow herald on cars built 1913. See B&M Caboose Drawing #11360. |
| unk | 7" Roadname & Number. | Xm, Gs 80780 | |
| 1915 | "Railroad" deleted from Arrow herald. | See B&M Caboose Drawing #11360. | |
| By Mar 1915, per ORER | N/A | 7" Initials w/periods & Number. | Xm 62236 |
| ca. 1919 | N/A. | Lines above and below Lettering-Number introduced. | Gm |
| 1920 | Cubical Capacity introduced for house cars. | Initials periods removed. | Gs 90058, Xm 70115 (RPC Vol. 16, page 16) |
| ca. 1922 | N/A. | 9" Initials and 7" roadname as early as 1922: 3-line on house cars, 1-line on open top. | Xm 65146, Gs 80864 |
| 1926 | Load Limit introduced. | Load Limit introduced. | Xm 67767, Gs 80119 |
| 1927 | N/A | MTC reporting marks inaugurated. | Xm 67767 |
| 1929 | N/A | Rect herald introduced-SSC version. | Xm 71923, Ht 8499 |
| 1930 | N/A | Rect herald revised-B&M shops version. | Xm 66353, Gs 90351 |
 Laconia, NH, ~1907, Laconia Car Co. |
 Laconia, NH, 1908, Laconia Car Co. |
Laconia, NH, 6/1909, Laconia Car Co.
|
Laconia, NH, 12/1909, Laconia Car Co.
|
Laconia, NH, 5/1911, Laconia Car Co.
|
|
B&M Xm 67902, built 1913Lawrence, MA, ca. 1914, Boston Public Library |
B&M Gs 81000 series, built 1913-4South Boston, MA, 1918-20, Boston Public Library |
Epsom, NH, Al Bickford collection
|
Salem, MA, 1925, author's collection
|
ca. 1916
|
|
B&M 34' Gondola, reweighed 11/19, author's collection
|
|
Boston, MA, 1924, Boston Public LibrarySee also RPC Vol 16, pg 16, 8/1919, AC&F |
Salem, MA, 1925, author's collection
|
 Atlantic Ave., Boston, ca. 1923, Boston Public Library |
Salem, MA, 1925, author's collection
|
 Author's collection |
|
 Author's collection |
Standard Steel Car Company, Keith Retterer collection
|
 WRJ 2-1936, Library of Congress |
collection
|
Notes
1. Federal Register, Railroad Safety Appliance Standards, Miscellaneous Revisions. (online from the feds.)
2. Annual report of the proceedings of the Master Car-Builders' Association, Volume 27, 1893:
Marking Cars, Recommended Practice, page 405, established,
Marking Fast Freight Line Cars, Recommended Practice, page 407, established.
3. Annual report of the proceedings of the Master Car-Builders' Association, Volume 30, 1896:
Marking Fast Freight Line Cars, Recommended Practice, page 499, moved to Sheet A.
Stenciling Cars, Recommended Practice, page 502, established.
4. Annual report of the proceedings of the Master Car-Builders' Association, Volume 35, 1901:
Stenciling Cars, Standard, page 506, changed from Recommended Practice.
5. Annual report of the proceedings of the Master Car-Builders' Association, Volume 36, 1902:
Stenciling Cars, Standard, page 460-462, revised.
6. Annual report of the proceedings of the Master Car-Builders' Association, Volume 40, 1906:
Stenciling Cars, Standard, page 612, revised,
Stenciling Cars, Recommended Practice, page 660, newly established.
7. Annual report of the proceedings of the Master Car-Builders' Association, Volume 42, 1908:
Stenciling Cars, Standard, page 650, revised,
Marking on Freight Equipment Cars, Recommended Practice, page 686, newly established.
8. Annual report of the proceedings of the Master Car-Builders' Association, Volume 43, 1909:
Stenciling Cars, Standard, page 627, revised.
9. Annual report of the proceedings of the Master Car-Builders' Association, Volume 45, 1911:
Lettering Cars, Standard, page 640, renamed, changed from Recommended Practice,
Marking on Freight Equipment Cars, Recommended Practice, page 641, revised,
Lettering Cars, Standard, page 648, renamed.
10. Annual report of the proceedings of the Master Car-Builders' Association, Volume 46, 1912:
Marking on Freight Equipment Cars, Recommended Practice, page 804, revised.
11. Annual report of the proceedings of the Master Car-Builders' Association, Volume 47, Part 2, 1913:
Lettering and Marking of Cars, Standard, page 957, merged,
Marking on Freight Equipment Cars, Standard, page 959, revised.
12. Annual report of the proceedings of the Master Car-Builders' Association, Volume 48, 1914:
Marking on Freight Equipment Cars, Recommended Practice, page , revised.
13. Annual report of the proceedings of the Master Car-Builders' Association, Volume 50, 1916:
Lettering and Marking of Cars, Standard, page , revised,
14. Annual report of the proceedings of the Master Car-Builders' Association, Volume 51, 1917:
Lettering and Marking of Cars, Standard, page 558, revised.
4. ARA Lettering Guidelines. (online at Eric Hansmann's web site.)
4.
Posted 11/30/17. Updated 1/5/25. Copyright Earl Tuson.