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Boston & Maine 31500 Series Flat Cars

Index

• Builder's Photo
• Classification Card(s) for series
• Specifications
• ORER data
• ORER Notes
• Discussion, General Notes
• Car Book and/or Car Disposition Data
• ICC Valuation Data
• Paint Schemes
• References
• Photographs
• Renumberings/Conversions/Dispositions
• Modeling
• Revision History of this page

Builder's Photo

Does one exist?

B&M Classification Card(s)

Does one exist?

Specifications From Classification Cards

?

ORER data and numbers

ORER Size Data - 1903-1910

Dimensions	4/1903
Length	34'
Width
Height
Capacity	40000

ORER Size Data - 1910-?

Description			6/1910	2/1914	11/1914
M.C.B. Designation					FM
Inside Dimensions	Length			34'	34'
	Width			8'-4"	8'-4"
	Height
Outside Dimensions	Length		34'	34'	34'
	Width	At Eaves or top of sides or platform	8'-4"	8'-4"	8'-4"
		Extreme Width
	Height from Rail	To Extreme Width
		To Eaves or top of sides or platform
		To Top of Running Board
		To Extreme Height
Door - Side opening	Width
	Height
Capacity	Cu Ft. Level Full
	Pounds		50000	50000	50000

ORER History

ORER Date (Year-Mo.)	Car Numbers	# of Cars	Description
Split from 30000-31999 series
1901 - 07	31500-31999	300	Flat, 34', 50000 lbs. capacity
1901 - 08	(same)
1901 - 09	"	450	"
1901 - 10	(same)
1901 - 11	(same)
1901 - 12	(same)
1902 - 01	(same)
1902 - 02	(same)
1902 - 03	(same)
1902 - 04	(same)
1902 - 05	(same)
1902 - 06	(same)
1902 - 07	(same)
1902 - 08	(same)
1902 - 09	(same)
1902 - 10	(same)
1902 - 11	(same)
1902 - 12	(same)
1903 - 01	(same)
1903 - 02	(same)
1903 - 03	"	400	"
1903 - 04	"	"	Flat
1903 - 05	(same)
1903 - 06	"	364	"
1903 - 07	(same)
1903 - 08	(same)
1903 - 09	(same)
1903 - 10	(same)
1903 - 11	(same)
1903 - 12	(same)
1904 - 01	(same)
1904 - 02	(same)
1904 - 03	(same)
1904 - 04	(same)
1904 - 05	(same)
1904 - 06	(same)
1904 - 07	(same)
1904 - 08	(same)
1904 - 09	(same)
1904 - 10	"	325	"
1904 - 11	(same)
1904 - 12	(same)
1905 - 01	(same)
1905 - 02	(same)
1905 - 03	(same)
1905 - 04	(same)
1905 - 05	(same)
1905 - 06	(same)
1905 - 07	(same)
1905 - 08	"	321	"
1905 - 09	(same)
1905 - 10	(same)
1905 - 11	(same)
1905 - 12	(same)
1906 - 01	(same)
1906 - 02	(same)
1906 - 03	(same)
1906 - 04	(same)
1906 - 05	(same)
1906 - 06	"	305	"
1906 - 07	(same)
1906 - 08	(same)
1906 - 09	"	302	"
1906 - 10	(same)
1906 - 11	(same)
1906 - 12	(same)
1907 - 01	(same)
1907 - 02	(same)
1907 - 03	"	273	"
1907 - 04	(same)
1907 - 05	(same)
1907 - 06	(same)
1907 - 07	(same)
1907 - 08	"	266	"
1907 - 09	(same)
1907 - 10	(same)
1907 - 11	(same)
1907 - 12	(same)
1908 - 01	(same)
1908 - 02	"	263	"
1908 - 03	(same)
1908 - 04	(same)
1908 - 05	"	242	"
1908 - 06	"	240	"
1908 - 07	(same)
1908 - 08	"	239	"
1908 - 09	(same)
1908 - 10	"	237	"
1908 - 11	(same)
1908 - 12	"	236	"
1909 - 01	(same)
1909 - 02	"	233	"
1909 - 03	"	226	"
1909 - 04	"	222	"
1909 - 05	"	220	"
1909 - 06	"	219	"
1909 - 07	"	216	"
1909 - 08	"	213	"
1909 - 09	"	212	"
1909 - 10	"	208	"
1909 - 11	"	205	"
1909 - 12	(same)
1910 - 01	"	204	"
1910 - 02	"	201	"
1910 - 03	"	200	"
1910 - 04	"	198	"
1910 - 05	(same)
1910 - 06	"	197	"
1910 - 07	"	196	"
1910 - 08	"	193	"
1910 - 09	(same)
1910 - 10	"	186	"
1910 - 11 <	(same)
1910 - 12	"	184	"
1911 - 01	"	182	"
1911 - 02	"	180	"
1911 - 03	(same)
1911 - 04	"	179	"
1911 - 05	"	177	"
1911 - 06	"	175	"
1911 - 07	"	174	"
1911 - 08	"	170	"
1911 - 09	"	169	"
1911 - 10	(same)
1911 - 11	"	168	"
1911 - 12	"	165	"
1912 - 01	"	161	"
1912 - 02	"	156	"
1912 - 03	"	154	"
1912 - 04	"	152	"
1912 - 05	"	151	"
1912 - 06	"	146	"
1912 - 07	"	145	"
1912 - 08	"	140	"
1912 - 09	"	138	"
1912 - 10	(same)
1912 - 11	"	160	"
1912 - 12	"	170	"
1913 - 01	"	167	"
1913 - 02	"	164	"
1913 - 03	"	162	"
1913 - 04	"	159	"
1913 - 05	"	154	"
1913 - 06	"	152	"
1913 - 07	"	147	"
1913 - 08	"	142	"
1913 - 09	"	139	"
1913 - 10	"	130	"
1913 - 11	"	128	"
1913 - 12	"	127	"
1914 - 01	"	125	"
1914 - 02	"	123	"
1914 - 03	31650-31999	122	"
1914 - 04	"	121	"
1914 - 05	"	115	"
1914 - 06	"	114	"
1914 - 07	"	108	"
1914 - 08	"	106	"
1914 - 09	"	105	"
1914 - 10	"	99	"
1914 - 11	"	98	"
1914 - 12	"	94	"
1915 - 01	(same)
1915 - 02	"	92	"
1915 - 03	(same)
1915 - 04	"	90	"
1915 - 05	"	88	"
1915 - 06	"	86	"
1915 - 07	"	85	"
1915 - 08	(same)
1915 - 09	"	84	"
1915 - 10	"		"
1915 - 11	(same)
1915 - 12	"	80	"
1916 - 01	"	78	"
1916 - 02	"	73	"
1916 - 03	"	68	"
1916 - 04	"	67	"
1916 - 05	"	61	"
1916 - 06	(same)
1916 - 07	"	55	"
1916 - 08	"	52	"
1916 - 09	"	50	"
1916 - 10	(same)
1916 - 11	(same)
1916 - 12	"	47	"
1917 - 01	"	45	"
1917 - 02	"	41	"
1917 - 03	(same)
1917 - 04	"	39	"
1917 - 05	"	38	"
1917 - 06	"	35	"
1917 - 07	"	31	"
1917 - 08	"	30	"
1917 - 09	"	25	"
1917 - 10	"	24	"
1917 - 11	"	[no number]	"
1917 - 12	"	23	"
1918 - 01	"		"
1918 - 02	"	21	"
1918 - 03	"	22	"
1918 - 04	"	20	"
1918 - 05	"	19	"
1918 - 06	(same)
1918 - 07	"	17	"
1918 - 08	(same)
1918 - 09	"	16	"
1918 - 10	(same)
1918 - 11	(same)
1918 - 12	"	14	"
1919 - 01	31667-31921	13	"
1919 - 02	(same)
1919 - 03	(same)
1919 - 04	(same)
1919 - 05	(same)
1919 - 06	(same)
1919 - 07	(same)
1919 - 08	(same)
1919 - 09	"	11	"
1919 - 10	"	10	"
1919 - 11	(same)
1919 - 12	31692-31893	11	"
1920 - 01	"	10	"
1920 - 02	(same)
1920 - 03	"	9	"
1920 - 04	"	8	"
1920 - 05	"	6	"
1920 - 06	(same)
1920 - 07	(same)
1920 - 08	(same)
1920 - 09	(same)
1920 - 10	31720-31893	5	"
1920 - 11	"	4	"
1920 - 12	(same)
1921 - 01	(same)
1921 - 02	(same)
1921 - 03	(same)
1921 - 04	(same)
1921 - 05	(same)
1921 - 06	(same)
1921 - 07	(same)
1921 - 08	(same)
1921 - 09	31720-31833	2	"
1921 - 10	31720,31833	"	"
1921 - 11	(same)
1921 - 12	(same)
1922 - 01	(same)
1922 - 02	(same)
1922 - 03	(same)
1922 - 04	(same)
1922 - 05	31720	1	"
1922 - 06	(same)
1922 - 07	(same)
1922 - 08	(same)
1922 - 09	(same)
1922 - 10	(same)
1922 - 11	(same)
1922 - 12	(same)
1923 - 01	Not listed

ORER Notes

Discussion, General Notes

• This series NEVER gets "*" indicating "Air Brakes" (1902-04 thru 1909-06)
• Split off from 30000-31999 series on 7/1901. I am assuming these are existing cars being re-classified, plus (by 3/1903) new cars
• B&MRRHS 1900-1907 Freight Car Lettering Book No. 1 (Reprint of B&M lettering diagrams)

  Note the "Book page number" below refers to the page number in the B&MRRHS book.
  As the B&MRRHS book's pages are NOT numbered, "1" is the first page with an actual diagram! (NOT the title pages or index pages)
  "U" = upper diagram on that page, "L" = lower diagram

  The "Diagram number" refers to the circled number (lower right corner) in each diagram (the original page number)

  Book page #	27 - U
  B&M Diagram #	51
  Diagram Date	1907
  Color on Diagram	Brown
  Notes on Diagram
  Datum	1900 Index	1907 Index
  Class of car	(see 30000 series)	Flat Car
  Length	n/a	34'
  Capacity	n/a	50,000
  Car Numbers	n/a	31500-31999
  Page [original]	n/a	51

Car Book and/or Car Disposition Data

Acquisition Books (1898 - 1917 only)

Volume number refers original book number
Page numbers refer to numbers on pages in original book, NOT to pages in PDF file(s)
Dates refer to first/last dates expenses were recorded in the acquisition book, NOT to car delivery dates

Car Number(s)	Vol	Page	First Date	Last Date	Builder	$ / Car	Notes
31931	1	26	1901-04	1901-05	B&M, Lawrence	$352

Car Disposition Records

Source(s)
ID	Box	Folder	Folder name	Link Title	Approx. Start date	Approx. End date
A	1	5	Coal Cars	30015-32994 Flat - "A"		1929

Data
Car Number	Disposition Source ID	Date Built	Disposition Date	Disposition	New Car #
31709	A	1891-02	1918-02	to	3984

ICC Valuation Data (circa 1914)

For more info on the ICC valuation data, see this web page

"Owning" RR	Car # / Range	Val Sheet #	Index on Page	Car Type	Built Date	Builder	Capy	Underframe	Body	Notes
B&M	31650	BM-16	18	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31651	BM-16	19	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31655	BM-16	20	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31658	BM-16	21	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31659	BM-16	22	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31660	BM-16	23	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31662-31668	BM-16	24	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31670	BM-16	25	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31673	BM-16	26	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31676-31679	BM-16	27	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31681	BM-16	28	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31683	BM-16	29	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31685	BM-16	30	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31687	BM-16	31	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31690	BM-16	32	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31692	BM-16	33	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31696	BM-16	34	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31699	BM-16	35	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31701	BM-16	36	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31703	BM-16	37	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31704	BM-16	38	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31706	BM-16	39	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31707	BM-16	40	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31709-31712	BM-16	41	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31714-31716	BM-16	42	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31718	BM-16	43	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31720	BM-16	44	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31723	BM-16	45	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31725	BM-16	46	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31731	BM-16	47	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31732	BM-16	48	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
B&M	31743	BM-16	49	Flat	1888-1907	various	50	wood	wood
C&M	31746-31747	CM-2	61	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31755	CM-2	62	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31761	CM-2	98	Flat	1900-1902	B&M RR	50	wood	wood
C&M	31762	CM-2	63	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31765	CM-2	99	Flat	1900-1902	B&M RR	50	wood	wood
C&M	31770	CM-2	64	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31772	CM-2	65	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31774	CM-2	66	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31776	CM-2	100	Flat	1900-1902	B&M RR	50	wood	wood
C&M	31777	CM-2	67	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31779-31780	CM-2	101	Flat	1900-1902	B&M RR	50	wood	wood
C&M	31781-31783	CM-2	68	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31787	CM-2	69	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31797	CM-2	70	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31808	CM-2	71	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31810	CM-2	72	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31821	CM-2	73	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31824	CM-2	74	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31832-31833	CM-2	75	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31835	CM-2	76	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31838	CM-2	77	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31849	CM-2	102	Flat	1900-1902	B&M RR	50	wood	wood
C&M	31852	CM-2	103	Flat	1900-1902	B&M RR	50	wood	wood
C&M	31858-31859	CM-2	78	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31864	CM-2	104	Flat	1900-1902	B&M RR	50	wood	wood
C&M	31867	CM-2	105	Flat	1900-1902	B&M RR	50	wood	wood
C&M	31873	CM-2	106	Flat	1900-1902	B&M RR	50	wood	wood
C&M	31878	CM-2	79	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31888	CM-2	80	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31891	CM-2	107	Flat	1900-1902	B&M RR	50	wood	wood
C&M	31893	CM-2	81	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31897	CM-2	108	Flat	1900-1902	B&M RR	50	wood	wood
C&M	31898	CM-2	82	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31900	CM-2	83	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31909-31910	CM-2	84	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31913	CM-2	109	Flat	1900-1902	B&M RR	50	wood	wood
C&M	31916	CM-2	85	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31921	CM-2	86	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31926	CM-2	87	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31930	CM-2	88	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31934	CM-2	89	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31944-31945	CM-2	90	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31951	CM-2	91	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31959	CM-2	110	Flat	1900-1902	B&M RR	50	wood	wood
C&M	31966	CM-2	92	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31969-31971	CM-2	93	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31980	CM-2	94	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31995	CM-2	95	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31997	CM-2	96	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood
C&M	31999	CM-2	97	Flat	1890-1896	Laconia	50	wood	wood

Paint Schemes

References or other data

• Magazine/Book article(s)

Photographs

Page	Car #	Photo Date yr-mo-day		Visible?				Markings				Paint Scheme	Herald	Notes
Blodgett, BG and Richards, RR Jr. Iron Roads of the Monadnock Region Vol 2 Bauhan Publishing, 2020. ISBN 978-0-87233-307-8
p63	31980	ca. 1905		p				S1&	R	R	N	?	none	boiler load. note "pairing" of stake pockets. Arch bar trucks w/ external brake beam
Digital Commonwealth If link no longer works, search on "Boston Maine Railroad" and page thru Title = "Crucible Steel Co. of America building. B&M and NY&NH&H RR cars in front"
	31796	ca 1898-1907		X	A			S1&	R	R	N		none	loaded with rail, or small size steel sections? Note variable spacing of stake pockets

Renumberings/Conversions/Dispositions

Models

Revision History

File History for THIS page

Date	Who	Description
28-Dec-2019	KG Akerboom	Initial release
22-Mar-2020	KG Akerboom	Added data from 19 more ORERs
04-Apr-2020	KG Akerboom	Re-did references/photos section
20-Apr-2020	KG Akerboom	Adding Digital Commonwealth web sites photos
05-May-2020	KG Akerboom	Moved ORER notes into separate section
15-May-2020	KG Akerboom	Added data from 4 more ORERs (1911,1919,1921,1931)
28-May-2020	KG Akerboom	updated 10/1919
21-Jul-2020	KG Akerboom	"Photos" table - changed "vertical" text to PNG of "sideways" text; added "Markings" columns
07- thru 16-Aug-2020	KG Akerboom	Added ORER data (History only, not dims or notes yet) for 63 more registers, courtesy of James Kinkaid
10-Oct-2020	KG Akerboom	Added E. Neubauer ORER data (car counts only, 15 issues)
26-Oct-2020	KG Akerboom	Added Car Book Data
28-Jan-2021	KG Akerboom	Added info from "1900-1907 Freight Car Lettering Diagrams" book
10-Apr-2021	KG Akerboom	Added info from 47 more ORERs 1903 thru 1917
04-Jul-2021	KG Akerboom	Reorganized Car Book and/or Car Disposition Data (Car # to 1st column, 2nd/other changes to new rows)
25-Oct-2021	KG Akerboom	Added car disposition record data
22-Jan-2022	KG Akerboom	Added ICC Valuation data
17-Sep-2022	KG Akerboom	Updated per [almost] complete ORER data
04-Jan-2023	KG Akerboom	Fixed headers and footers...hopefully
25-Feb-2023	KG Akerboom	Fixed link to scanned data (car books)
22-Jul-2023	KG Akerboom	Back-filled missing 1914 data