When were the last 40 foot boxcars built for the railroads? According to one site http://www.greatnorthernempire.net/index2.htm?GNEBoxcars_40ft.htm new 40’ boxcars were still being built for Great Northern as late as 1969, even though 50’ cars were already in usage.
Around 1969, a lot of railroads got some specialized 40-foot box cars for appliances. They were as tall as an 86-foot hi-cube box car, but still only 40 feet long. SP got some high-roof, ribbed-side 40-footers more recently than that; many of these are still in service, in various guises.
Those GN cars “built” in 1968 and 1969 appear to have been rebuilt. Note the riveted sides, the unusual thick seam along the floor, and the friction-bearing trucks that were converted to roller bearings. Nothing positive, but all highly suggestive. Add to the the fact that most box cars built at that time were single-sheathed (i.e., ribbed-side), and you might have to eliminate these as a contender.
Looking elsewhere on that site, those cars in the GN 4200 and 4400 series, with ribbed sides and plug doors, built in 1967, might qualify.
I would suggest that 1965-1966 saw the last new “traditional” 40-foot box cars (double-sheathed, 10’6" or so inside height) being built. Rock Island got over 1000 (which CNW obtained after RI shut down), and MKT received some about then as well.
CN and CP were often behind the US when it came to forsaking the old ways; they may have received some new 40-footers in the 60s, but I don’t know about them.
Didn’t the New Haven and the Bangor and Aroostick team up for some potato-carrying 40-footers with a unique paint scheme in the early '6-'s under the Alpert Administration?
Dave, I think those cars were a little earlier than the early 60s (but am not sure). They were insulated, though, which makes them a whole 'nother thing. 40-foot reefers were also being built by companies such as Fruit Growers Express into the early 1960s.
1953 was the combined NHRR and BAR order. They came in red/white/blue and the NH ones had NEW HAVEN and the classic script herald in the white band.
Those were just insulated 40’ plug-door boxcars with a charcoal heater under-neath.
In the 1960’s, some were repainted brown with a big white NH and relegated to regular boxcar service – they were XM class.