PC: P1K X72A boxcar lettering

[Jerry Jordak <jer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Now that we've recovered from the electric quiz, here's another brain
teaser, except that I don't have the answer for this one....

Tonight I was looking through my Christmas presents, among which someone
had given me one of the Life-Like Proto 1000 PC X72A boxcars. (Being
a PC fan makes me easy to buy for--I ended receiving that car and two
Accurail PC cars, but I digress.....) I was looking at the lettering to
get an idea of how the prototype car was used and how the model would
be used on my eventual layout. Anyway, I noticed the strangest
lettering to the left of the door:

WHEN EMPTY
RETURN TO AGENT
EL MARION, OH

Which brings up the obvious question: Why would an empty PC freight car
be sent back to an Erie Lackawanna destination? Desiring a second
opinion, I pulled out the Morning Sun PC Color Guide (thank you, Mr.
Kinkaid) and looked up the X72A boxcar (page 45 if you're following
along). I put the model and photo next to each other and compared them.

Besides the obvious difference in color (the P1K car is lighter than
the photo, but in opinion can still pass OK), they're weren't any other
glaring differences in the lettering. The only difference I could see
is that the car in the photo had a return destination of
"PC ALTOONA, PA" (I think).

So is this a slip on Life-Like's part, or is there a reasonable
explanation as to why an empty PC car would be routed to the EL in
Marion? Maybe these cars were assigned to special service or something?

Later,
-Jer

-- 
Jerry W. Jordak               Time has little to do with infinity
mailto:jer@smellycat.com      and jelly doughnuts.
http://prozac.cwru.edu/jer/                      -- Thomas Magnum
Acts 16:31   <><