Art, I wonder if maybe you might have traveled in one of the Troop Sleepers that were turned out during WW2. I don't know if they were all metal construction or if there weren't any number made of wood due to the need for steel to be used in making tanks and ships, etc. They were very boxcar-like in appearance and I believe had the kind of windows you described. There were probably any number of them still running in 1949-50. George ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rideout Family" <wa6ipd@nctimes.net> To: <MO-STLOUIS-METRO-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, August 03, 2003 5:58 PM Subject: Re: [StL-Metro] Coal stoves > I joined the Air Force in 1949 and we went from St Louis to San Antonio TX > and the cars had coal stoves. The cars were all wood and you could open the > windows both top and bottom. They looked like they might have been built > early in the 1900s. But two years later I traveled to San Francisco from St > Louis by train headed for Korea and those trains were heated by steam. In > Japan we took an old WW II Japanese troop train which was all wood with coal > stoves to southern Japan where we flew into Kimpo AFB Korea just in time for > a North Korean air raid. > > Art > Fallbrook, CA > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "George Ude" <geoude@charter.net> > To: <MO-STLOUIS-METRO-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Sunday, August 03, 2003 3:05 PM > Subject: Re: [StL-Metro] Coal stoves > > > > Hey Bob, > > > > In 1945 not all railroad cars were heated by coal stoves. Nor in 1944. > > Probably those cars you mentioned were in the Dakotas...maybe Great > > Northern, Northern Pacific, the CB&Q, etc., or branch lines. Down south > > where I traveled from Arizona to St Louis in 1944 and then across country > > from Ft. McArthur, Calif. via troop trains in 1945 the cars were heated > from > > steam, etc. Remember, trains then were pulled by steam engines so they > had > > plenty of that. Incidentally the MoPac from Kansas City to St. Louis in > > June 1944 was a rolling cooker. The war kept them from repair broken air > > conditioners. Well -- so much for the "good" old days. > > > > George > > in South Central Tennessee > > > > > > > > ==== MO-STLOUIS-METRO Mailing List ==== > > I only work on Genealogy on days that end in "Y". > > > > > > > ==== MO-STLOUIS-METRO Mailing List ==== > For tips on researching St. Louis Church Records: http://members.gtw.net/~seamus/churchrecords.htm > >