ACL P Series 40' flatcars Part 1 - The P-9 and P-11 workhorses

 

After all these years, I finally decided to take on a long standing challenge for a truly excellent kit. The confusion surrounding the prototype has not deterred my efforts to document the ACL P-9 and P-11 series of 40' flatcars. Along the way, I managed to determine some lesser known facts that show the true resiliency of these cars. These cars first appeared on the ACL roster in 1913 and many outlived the railroad itself.

The majority of these unique cars are a bastion for the kit builder because of their unique identities in the later years. Examples of the P-9 and P-11 flats were converted in part to larger capacity cars, with others serving M-of-W service roles well into the 1970s and beyond. The lettering and painting is sparse, but when you decide to construct a fleet of them, sometimes less is better.

The lettering set needed for these cars can be sourced from two sources to include Tichy and the ACL & SAL Historical Society by way of custom decals for larger cars, but these will require some letter by letter application. For the uninitiated, ACL lettering looks like simple, but following the prototype, the modeler should consider the appearance of the A, the C, and the shape of the numerals. 

Ultimately, I will author a large article for those cars once I can determine some critical facts about their builders and other details, however, here is but one sheet from a roster I have drafted trying to determine the basics. The Tichy 40' flatcar kit (part number 4040) is an excellent kit and with some additions, it becomes quite better when specifically building ACL flats.