Southern New England PS-1 boxcars - a little background

I recently received this email:

Marty, At Christmas my wife gave me a Kadee box car from the SNE, #48010. I model 1957 so I have a few questions about this. What reweigh stenciling should there be? Would the roof paint be peeling at this point in time? And finally, were these cars used in any specialized service?

TIA,

Phil

SNE 48010 represents one of a class of 200 cars delivered new to the SNE in 1951.



SNE 41912 is from a smaller group of 50 cars ordered from Pullman-Standard in 1954 and were the first cars delivered in the Maple Leaf paint scheme.

Here's my response:

Phil,
First of all, let me congratulate your wife for her exceptionally outstanding taste when it comes to Christmas gifts!

SNE 48010 would be part of number series 48000-48199 - a group of 200 boxcars ordered in 1947 and delivered in May 1948. Like the CN and CV, the SNE doesn't have specific classes assigned to boxcars, so there were simply "48000-series" cars, and you'll find them referred to as such in company correspondence. They were all delivered with the square herald, green with "Southern New England" monogram to the right of the door with "Southern New England" spelled out to the left of the door above the reporting marks. Kadee did an exceptionally good job on these, and they are quite accurate when compared to photos and paint samples from the prototype cars.
About 50 of these cars are in assigned paper/pulp service - transporting market pulp from integrated and pulp mills in the northern sections of New England to the finishing mills located along the SNE. Considering the nature of the cargo we try to keep them in that service and they're labeled "Clean Lading Only" to the left of the door. They are regularly spotted at mills along the Atlantic Great Eastern - although I've heard rumors they may have been spotted on the Allagash RR as well.
The remaining 150 cars are in general pool service - and can be seen anywhere.
As far as reweigh dates, I use "XA" (St Albans, VT) for many of the cars, but use "XP" (North Providence, the SNE's shops) for most. Of course, some of the cars have been weighed off line at various other points.
Very few of these cars were repainted into their original scheme prior to the introduction of the maple leaf herald in 1954. So, in your 1957 era the cars with the square heralds have been in service for seven years, and the paint on the roofs would certainly have failed in some cases. I'd also say at the very least the cars roofs would be quite dirty.
The maple leaf cars are from one of two groups - the original 48000-series cars repainted into the maple leaf scheme starting in late 1954, or they are from the series of 50 additional PS-1s (41900-41949) delivered new to the SNE in 1954 with the maple leaf monogram.