Reporting marks

I've come across a couple railroad reporting marks that I'm looking for more information on.

BKTY - my list says it's M-K-T. I'm wondering if the B indicates something different than plain old MKT reporting marks as I'd never seen that version before.

SFLC - my list says this is BNSF. What do the letters stand for - Santa Fe Leasing Co. perhaps?

Back in the day (1965-66), "BKTY" meant cars that MKT had "arranged" through financial institutions...Banks, therefore, "BankKaTY". Some said it stood for "BarrigerKaTY", referring to John W. Barriger, famed savior of bankrupt railroads, who became the preident of the woebegone MKT in 1965. His business cards read "President and Travelling Freight Agent". Before JWB arrived, MKT was having derailments under STANDING freight trains, the track was so poor!

There were other marks as SFRD, BREX, etc mostly used on Reefers. The ICC rules stated that empty cars had to be returned by the same way they were delivered. The owners of the reefers wanted them returned as fast as possible so by having them owned by a seperate company they were returned quickly. Also they were able to charge a higher rate for not unloading the car quickly and returning it versus the rules on railroad owned equipment.

Thats why most Reefers were owned by BREX, PFE, MDT, SFRD etc. Sometimes this also went over to the tank cars and early covered hoppers owned by GACX etc.

Also there were other marks like PCA and PCB for the Penn Central which would enable the financing owner able to claim the cars easier if they went into Chapter 13 Bacnkrupty.

Rick

Rick