This book contains drawings of the equipment that was operating on the KCS/L&A
in the era directly prior to the road becoming the Class 1 road and one of
the biggest 5 roads in the US that it is today. The types of equipment show
the product mix that the road was interested in servicing in their own equipment versus seasonal / bridge shipping that could be paid a per diem rate to another road.
The drawings are essentially blueprints that a skilled employee could
recognize, repair, and service equipment that was in service. While much
of the equipment in here was built for the KCS/L&A or built by them
in their own shops, some of it was purchased on the secondhand market.
This book was something that each railroad had on hand for their crews operating the trains and the shops in the areas concerned. In the case where a derailment occurred and repairs were necessary in other shops, a copy of the folio diagram sheets for the cars concerned often was sent to help restore damaged equipment. Due to the poor quality of the originals many of the folios required editing
Included are stock cars; boxcars ranging from 40' to 86'; flat bottom & mill gondolas; a variety of open and covered hoppers including standard and Airslide; Pulpwood, Bulkhead, Gypsum Board and Standard flats; Bi & Tri level autoracks;
tank cars, and the road and terminal cabooses used throughout the system.
This book has 92 pages with 89 full size folios.