Help Sought

Were all the passenger cars on the A&Y lettered for the Southern Railway? The Southern owned the line, leased or rented locomotives to the A&Y, and eventually integrated the short line into the Winston-Salem Division. I know the A&Y leased coaches from the Southern, but I have no evidence that leased equipment other than locomotives received A&Y lettering. During the years of true independent passenger operation from 1924 to 1939, were any passenger coaches repainted with the A&Y road name?

A conductor's manifest book detailing locomotives and cars — including road name, number, and commodities — for any period from 1916 to 1950. I have a set of such books for the Winston-Salem Division of the Southern for the early 1930s. A comparable find from the A&Y itself would be remarkable.

A side-angle photograph of any passenger car lettered for the A&Y. I have photographs of CF&YV passenger trains, but only a few A&Y-era passenger train photographs exist, and none are at an angle or quality that allows the lettering on the coach or baggage car sides to be read clearly.

A photograph of an A&Y train with flat cars of granite from the North Carolina Granite Corporation at Mount Airy or Flat Rock.

A track chart covering the full CF line and the CR and SM branches. I once had a relatively modern chart from Rural Hall to Sanford, and I have a 1912 Southern Railway chart that helps fill some gaps — but I have nothing comprehensive for the A&Y's operational period of 1916 to 1950.