Re: D&RG Class 3 and 3A Box cars

Dave -
I agree that's likely the case, but the problem lies in Sloan's assertion in C+10 that the better 3s were cut down as Eric's asking about. Sloan says the rebuilding took place in 1902, but there seems to be a large gap in official reference material in his list between 1888 and 1904. I don't know if DRG rosters 3 through 37 would have shown any specifics on earlier rebuildings. And it is a very odd notion that with the class 3 body bolster arrangement that any 'upgrades' would have moved them inward by around half the width of the original class 3. If anything was done with the original 3s, my guess would be that the entire underframe was replaced with one that fit the overall dimensions of the original class 3 house and the old houses were stripped of siding, lifted off the old frame and dropped on the new and then resheathed. If the old frames were modified as Sloan said, there would still have been a slight 'step' at the car ends as the house never covered the entire end sill (by 5 about inches IIRC). Wheelbase would have remained the same but with the heavier trucks. Another interesting point - the folios show the cars didn't change either coupler or sill height even with the increased wheel size (I haven't checked the truck dimensions though). Just wouldn't have been worth the effort to lengthen the house or move the trucks, unless as you said, the whole 3a thing was really just a new car with some original hardware. We'll have to keep looking for decent pictures of the 3a.