BEN HUR TRAILER I.D.

[JOURNEYMAN]

HI ALL,
I HAVE ACQUIRED A WOODEN BEN HUR TRAILER AS A RESTORATION PROJECT. IT APPEARS TO BE ORIGINAL APART FROM THE FRONT AND SIDE PANELS WHICH HAVE BEEN REPLACED WITH WEATHERPROOF BOARDING. THE MAKERS PLATE IS " QUEEN CITY " ALTHOUGH I DO NOT KNOW IF IT IS THE ORIGINAL PLATE FOR THE TRAILER. REMOVING PAINT FROM THE TAILGATE ,I FOUND A 5 POINTED STAR ABOUT 10 INCHES IN DIAMETER ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE MIDDLE HINGE. ON THE RIGHT SIDE I FOUND " USA " AND WRITTEN UNDERNEATH THE NUMBER " 06694 " THIS NUMBER WAS ON A LAYER OF GREEN PAINT , BELOW THIS WAS ONLY RED PRIMER , SUGGESTING THAT THIS WAS AN ORIGINAL NUMBER. ON TOP OF THE NUMBERS THERE WAS 2 OR 3 LAYERS OF PAINT, NO OTHER NUMERALS WERE PRESENT TO THE RIGHT OF THE " 4 " ONLY PAINT LAYERS DOWN TO THE PRIMER LAYER. HAVING LOOKED AT THE SERIAL NUMBERS LISTED FOR " QUEEN CITY " ON THE G518 DATABASE , IT DOES NOT APPEAR TO MATCH THEIR SERIAL NUMBERS. THERE DOES NOT APPEAR , AT THE MOMENT , TO BE ANY OTHER IDENTIFYING MARKS ON THE TRAILER. MOST TRAILERS APPEAR TO HAVE 6 OR 7 DIGITS IN THE TRAILER NUMBER , YET THIS APPEARS AS IF IT MAY BE ORIGINAL. IF ANYONE CAN HELP , IT WOULD BE APPRECIATED.
THANKS,
STEVE .

[pfarber]

A photo of the data plate may help.

The trailer has been restored at least once. If your description of the paint layers is correct. I don't thing there should be any red oxide primer on the wood. The wood would have been preserved with a turpentine solution and painted OD, this is from the TM. One of the easiest tells of a restoration is that the original wooden planks were tongue and groove, and only 3 boards were used on the sides (from my research into wooden Ben Hurs). If the body wood is NOT tongue and groove, or there are more than 3 planks then anything painted on the trailer is suspect.

You are correct that trailers would have a registration number (not a serial number... two different things) that started with a '0' (zero). I believe that at least the first five digits you posted are the actual registration number. If the registration number started with '00' (zero zero) then it would have been from a maintenance truck, light.

I don't know what G518 trailer database you looked at, there is a tiny one (less than 10) on CCKW.org, and it's pretty much useless.

As usual, photos are the key. Even the font used can help date/authenticate the numbers. Look at the AR's for font, spacing and the size of the national symbol.. its all there.