Those Strange Looking Boxcars?

Mountain Man

Active Member
Probably not truly "boxcars" at all, but I've been meaning to ask about them anyway:

Occasionally on the rails nearby we will see what appear to be very large, very tall "boxcars" with roofs slanting in from the sides and meeting in the middle just like a small structure, only entirely metal. There are never more than two or three of these things in any one consist, and always hooked together.

What are these things and what do they transport? :confused:
 

shaygetz

Active Member
Probably not truly "boxcars" at all, but I've been meaning to ask about them anyway:

Occasionally on the rails nearby we will see what appear to be very large, very tall "boxcars" with roofs slanting in from the sides and meeting in the middle just like a small structure, only entirely metal. There are never more than two or three of these things in any one consist, and always hooked together.

What are these things and what do they transport? :confused:

More than likely they are aircraft part transporters---wings and fuselages---from one assembly point to another.
 

Mountain Man

Active Member
More than likely they are aircraft part transporters---wings and fuselages---from one assembly point to another.

They always look heavily weathered and often rusty, almost the way scrap iron cars often do. Would aircraft parts be transported that way?

Is there a site where I can browse different types of cars by image?
 

Squidbait

Recovering ALCO-holic
Mountain Man:

Are they like these?
train3.jpg


... or these?

They're carrying wing assemblies.
 

Mountain Man

Active Member
Mountain Man:

Are they like these?
train3.jpg


... or these?

They're carrying wing assemblies.

That's the ones! Funny - I found a site to browse through all types of rolling stick, but I didn't see any of these. My "new" eyes work worse than my old ones. It also appears that I am "descriptively challenged,", as I got the top completely wrong. More like a Dutch roof. :rolleyes:

Thanks for the info! :thumb:
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
I don't have a picture, but I worked on a similar looking car that had a refrigeration unit on the end. I worked on the refrigeration unit. It hauled rocket fuel to Vandenburg Air Force Base out here in Cali.
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
It was similar, but I seem to remember the box being taller and longer. It was probably 8-10 years ago so I may be mistaken. I guess the refrigeration unit is on the other end of the car.
 

Triplex

Active Member
It also appears that I am "descriptively challenged,", as I got the top completely wrong. More like a Dutch roof.
Well, I immediately understood what you were talking about. As you can see, there are different types of this car.
 

eightyeightfan1

Now I'm AMP'd
Funny - I found a site to browse through all types of rolling stick, but I didn't see any of these.


Maybe because they are acutually owned by Boeing, and specific for their use, and not used for anything else but hauling major aircraft assemblies(wings and fuselage), like the SRB car that belongs to NASA. If you notice, there's no reporting marks, as I have read, that whole Boeing Trains run from Witchita Kansas, to the major assembly plant in Washington state.

Ironic though, isn't it?
The one thing that killed passenger travel by railroad, is traveling by railroad.
 

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Ironic though, isn't it?
The one thing that killed passenger travel by railroad, is traveling by railroad.

I think the one thing that killed passenger travel by rail has been travelling by rail for a long time - and it's a little more common than Boeing's train...
 

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MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
Wow...

Haven't seen an "open", two-level autorack like that for a loooong time...! ;)

Nice pic!

Andrew
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
I didn't know they still used open auto racks, or at least that they were still using them in 2004. I thought they went to the enclosed type due to vandalism resulting in damage to vehicles in transit.
 

Triplex

Active Member
They did, generally. That's not the first relatively recent shot of an open rack I've seen... and, IIRC, the last one I saw was CN too.
 
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