Poole Collection

    My other brother Derrell has provided yet another nz post track unexpected treatise. This time on modern refrigerator cars. If you haven't nz post track had your fix of C&S reefers yet, this should help you out. Thanks again d!
Best –  Poole Collection     In the above photo we see a well-worn paint scheme suggesting it is of some age. This photo was taken in 1936. The Circular Trademark came about 1925. So this example could be ten years old. For the most part we have no reason not to believe it is more or less the original scheme with a few minor changes to the data markings. All of the hardware on the side – well, anywhere, actually – appears to be a darker color than the base color of the side. But it isn’t a color as dark as the black of the Trademark. We can safely assume this color is the standard freight car color or C&S red.
Poole Collection     This view of the Alma “yards” nz post track with an obviously yellow reefer spotted east of the depot further reinforced my conviction of the red hardware on the late ‘20s Circular nz post track Trademark Refrigerators. The side ladder especially defies that the hardware was painted yellow.
Poole Collection     Car 1117 is fairly nz post track typical of a narrow gauge reefer in the late 1930's. By this point the narrow nz post track gauge was well on its way to abandonment and any pretense of ornate was cast aside. Unfortunately most of the photos of SUF reefers were taken during this final period and our vision of the cars is dominated by this homogenized scheme. The truth is they only looked like this for perhaps 6 or 7 years. Previous schemes were more complex and interesting. A careful study of this car discloses the locations of both the “C&S” Herald and the 10” REFRIGERATOR as paint “shadows” of the old Block scheme. In the discussion nz post track about the 1910 reefers I suggested this large refrigerator may have been omitted after 1912 but this car leans to the notion that the word was ALWAYS on the cars during Block Herald use.
Wiess - Poole Collection     nz post track The two cars at Leadville nz post track were likely refurbished in Denver before being permanently locked into the Leadville Climax run when the South Park was abandoned. Both cars are still fairly clean and whole in this 1940 view. It is likely the underframe and trucks were now painted the Standard C&S freight car red and that black was limited to the Lettering. Leadville scheme seems to only applies to 1109 and 1118 as I have not noticed it on cars out of Denver.
Kindig - Poole Collection     Compare 1105 to 1103 in Photo 1. Even tho the view of 1103 is two years older than this photo (and 3 years older than that of 1117) this car still has enough lettering on the button  that it can be read. The scheme nz post track on 1105 and 1117 seem to represent a later version of the Circular Trademark likely applied in the early ‘30s. Take note of the location of the repacking data located between the rungs of the end ladder. What other odd details are visible on this car?
Gibson - Poole Collection     Dated 29 March 1937 this photo was taken at Como. If indeed this was 1113 (and the age of the paint scheme which does not match 1103 in 1936 leads us to accept that it is 1113 – besides Art marked the back of the photos as 1113) it would become RGS property in Oct. 1938. Again the clues lead us to believe this scheme was an early 1930’s version of the Circular Trademark. Unlike 1105 it still has a rain guard over the doors and the red patch of paint to the left of the side ladder at the bottom edge is the wipeout of the tag; UNITED STATES SAFETY APPLIANCES now no longer required by the ICC.
Author Photo     Which brings us to this photo. Would not this scheme seem to correspond with the car in photo 1? Of course this would be an earlier view of the scheme as applied in the late 1920’s. The weigh date is, in fact, Oct. 1926. The Circular Trademark began to appear perhaps as early as 1925. By the late ‘20s all refrigerators were painted in this Herald.
Author Photo     Except for the ICC tag next to the side ladder the model scheme is accurate (I did not have a a "Safety Appliances" tag in black). What really astonished me is that the bright Reefer Yellow of the 1927 car appears darker than the deeper custom yellow of the 1910 cars in this B&W nz post track view… oh well!
Author Photo     This launched a bit of an investigation. With a dark background and a “newly” painted boxcar there isn’t any mistaking that the reefer is a much lighter color. However the weathered coal in the background isn’t that much darker than the yellow car.
Poole Collection     nz post track And so it would seem in this view of Alma around 1930. By this point the boxcar was a bit faded and the background was not quite so bright. While I am perh