39 CARS • 6 AXLES • UNKNOWN TRUCKS

Listed in Official Railway Equipment Register : JUL 1967-APR 1979

This is the most mysterious group of RailWhales.  Why did three cars disappear before the entire series was even completed, why were all-but-one of these cars deleted from the ORER after only five or six years, and why haven't we found ANY photos of them?  The answer to the last question is probably related to their very short lifespan, combined with the fact that very few railfans were photographing freight cars back then.  With no photos, we know nothing about their trucks, light weight, load limit, gallonage or use.

All we do know about these cars is what was listed in the ORER, and they weren't in there for very long.  A listing for cars 98200-98238 first appeared in the JUL 1967 issue with a capacity of 300,000 pounds and no quantity shown, and this continued through the next two issues (OCT 1967 and JAN 1968); then, in APR 1968, the quantity was 21.  In JUL 1968 cars 94650-94706 were added to the listing for 98200-98238 (96 numbers), but the total quatity was only 32.  From this we might conclude that the 98200-series cars may have had the same specifications as 95650-94706, but maybe not.  (Their capacity was still listed as a generic 300,000 pounds.)

In the next isse, OCT 1968, 93 numbers were listed: 94650-94706, 98200, 98202-98214 and 98217-98238; and the combined total was 46 cars; and in JAN 1969, 69 cars.  At this time all we can do is speculate, but it seems unlikely that the numbers 98201, 98215 and 98216 would have been skipped; so as unlikely as it seems, the cars with those numbers were probably retired between the JUL and OCT 1968 issues.

Finally, in APR 1969 the quantity for the two groups was 93, accounting for all 57 of the 94650-series cars and all 36 of the remaining 98200-series cars.  All 93 cars were listed through JAN 1974, and then the quantity dropped to 58: cars 94650-94706 and the 98238; so all-but-one of the 98200-series cars disappeared after just five or six years!  Car 98238 was listed for another five years, through APR 1979.  Coincidentally, this is when the first nine 94650-series cars were deleted, and all of those cars were gone by OCT 1980.

The photo tables is included here in the hope that a photo of these cars may someday appear!

CGP-24 © 2003-2013 Michael M. Palmieri