NYO&W Steel Boxcars?

Did NYO&W have any 40' steel boxcars? If so, numbers? Lettering
scheme? My library doesn't yield answers to these queries, and would
like to add a 40' boxcar to my model pike. I would assume that
the "OW" herald in white on boxcar red occupied 1/3 to 1/2 of the
right side of car; was the herald actually so used? Was road name
lettered on left side or elsewhere? Also, most of these cars had
100,000 lb. capacity. but some older steel cars might have been 80,000
lb. Any photos available on web? Maybe someone in this group has
some answers. Thanks.
James E. Bradley Hawk Mountain Chapter N.R.H.S.

Try this website:

www.nyow.org

The O&W barely had enough money to dieselize, and aside from some steel hoppers (with two digit road numbers) had virtually no steel equipment save for some Osgood-Bradley RPO-Baggage cars, home-built steam generator cars converted from steam engine tenders, and (I believe) those two ex SLSW observations, the remaining roster of rolling stock as I understand it was wood including it's sizable fleet of cabooses. I have read that they sold some coaches to the ACL in the late 30's but cannot verify if indeed they did nor the composition. It would be very interesting if O&W indeed had steel boxcars, or any other type of "modern" freight equipment but again I've not read any evidence to the contrary.

By the end of WWII most of the O&W rolling stock was so old and in such sad shape it was no longer able to be used in interchange service. This resulted in the need to use foreign road cars for on-line customers and incurring the per diem charges that resulted. Trying to stave off the flow of red ink by dieselizing and re-inventing itself as a bridge carrier was met with only limited success although the diesels gave the O&W ten more years than it may have had otherwise.

I didn't realize the NYOW didnt have any of its own freight cars in later years... now that I come to think of it, I dont think I've ever seen pictures of NYOW freight cars except for steel hoppers for the coal trade... it all makes sense now!

-otto-

I recommend the NYO&W's historical society's DVD they put together a couple years ago called "The NYO&W on Film". I just picked it up at the Franklin train show yesterday and I think its great, worth the money just for the sound track IMHO. It does have some images of O&W freight equiptment including boxes and includes both B&W and some color film.

http://www.nyow.org

See also: http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=128&t=62174