Help me Larry!

I lost your e-mail address, please respond to the following questions and include your e-mail address...send to my e-mail address above.

Question(s): The two ACL "beaver tails" were Budd cars, but did either have the service door on the right hand side of the car (looking at car from the rear).

I have your book...bought straight from TLC four months ago. The painting by Harmantas (front cover) shows an ACL observation, with the roof painted black. Were they indeed painted black, possibly during a specific period of time in service. I thought they were silver.

Would still like to have it autographed by you! Is it time to do the yellow set of ACL passenger decals?

John K.

-- John B Klauber (www.jbklauber@email.com), March 30, 2000

Answers

I will let Larry answer the questions directed towards his E-mail address and the book, but as for the ACL's Budd built observation cars, all of the cars had a small service door located on the right side of the car looking from the rear of the car.

During the war years, and for a period of time afterwards, the roofs of the observation cars were painted black. In fact, the ACL made an attempt to provide some design to this painting by giving a "Vee" shaped ending to the paint on some of the cars. The roofs were stainless steel, and unless this metal is specially prepared by pickling it in a acid bath, paint will eventually peel from the metal. This is probably why the painting of the roofs was eventually suspended.

-- Michael W. Savchak (Savchak @MNR.org), April 03, 2000.