Many strong resources are available. Book investments should be expected and you often get more out of a book than what you thought you would at purchase.

• Coal Cars: the first three hundred years by Martin Robert Karig III

• The Postwar Freight Car Fleet by Larry Kline and Ted Culotta

• Tank Cars: American Car & Foundry, 1865-1955 by Edward S. Kaminski

• Car Builders Cyclopedias or Newton K. Gregg reprints

• Official Railroad Equipment Registers

• Google books

• Railway Age

• Industrial publications

• Historical Societies and Libraries

• Steam Era Freight Cars YahooGroup (STMFC) - daily discussions on general and very specific details, plus many shared files

• Online digital archives - Fallen Flags, American Memory section of the Library of Congress site, West Virginia & Regional History Collection, Denver Public Library, Virginia Tech N&W Collection, Shorpy, and many more

Andover, MA 1929 from the Boston Public Library

Most importantly, share your resources and knowledge.

Take good notes and make copies of everything. EVERYTHING!

If you find something neat, take photos before it disappears.