Since the last update, the back and forth over the semaphores ended in December. With the help of Bill Hanks, we have come to an interesting outcome through company records and photos, which should be interesting to most. There is one previously published photo that is speculative; a theory is put forth, and you will have to make your own judgment as to whether the photo shows a Sandy River railroad signal for P&R trains in the late 1890s to 1903.
At the January 25, Springfield Train Show, which I attended with the S.R.R.L. folks, I brought a photo for discussion and showed it to attendees who follow the S.R.R.L. equipment. Days after the show, I asked Wesley Ewell for his estimate of the length of the car in question, which I thought would help identify which of the three cars it was originally, before its non-revenue service use.
Wesley’s answer shocked me: “24 foot and a B&B car.” This sparked a three-week go around which went down a few rabbit holes.
The outcome: It’s a B&B car.
The photo’s stated information has been misinterpreted since the 1950s, and was in fact taken six years earlier than thought.
It now ties into a photo I acquired a few months ago, which then relates to two photos in Two Feet Between the Rails V-II. All four photos show this car in non-revenue service between the late summer of 1910 and no later than August 1914, at two different locations. Due to confusion I had with which B&B car it was, the photo here of No.5/554 has completely changed its meaning. I will only explain it at this time as a “bridge” photo. Some items are still being rewritten to reflect events in a new light.
As you can see on the front page of the site, the dust jacket is finished and a person has been hired to lay out the book.
The editing process is what the delay is now, the text is done.