SOU SOU Covered Hopper

Much faded, but nearly graffiti-free is this SOU Covered Hopper found in Columbia, SC yesterday.

 

Nice catch. I see faded SOU covered hoppers on about 1 in 3 trains in the Twin Cities. Far less common are Family Lines with L&N markings.

 

I'm indebted to a friend from decades ago for sparking an interest in freight car photography. It was only with a budding interest did I begin to shoot freight cars, never thinking that the wonderful array of pre-merger roadnames would fade from the scene and that ruinous graffiti would spoil much of what remained.

 

Nice to actually see a freightcar with nearly none of that unsightly grafitti on it. Thanks