Each day on my way to and from work I travel by a section of CSX tracks that has a siding full of the HI-Cube type boxcars. The same cars sit there for an extended amount of time, up to 8-10 months it seems. I’m curious as to why this happens. When out railfanning, I see this type of car very often which leads me to think that they are valued for their capacity. So why would these cars be sitting idle for so long?
Also, when cars are parked like this, is there a fee being charged?
My guess would be with the shift toward unit trains and intermodal service involving piggyback truck trailers or shipping cubes, that boxcars, even modern ones like the hi-cube, are a bit of a glut on the market. From the little I’ve seen, the USA seems to teem with freight stock that isn’t quite obsolescent or in poor repair, but isn’t much in demand either.
Did you see any I.D. marks on the boxcars as to whether they belong to a RR company or, instead, to a company that merely owns and leases rolling stock?
I’m sure there are people out there in the TRAINS universe who have a clearer idea as to the origin and probable disposition of the boxcars . . .
BTW, are these hi-cubes free of graffiti? If so, that’s something for the books. [V]
If the boxcars are 85-to-89-ft. long and equipped with two sets of plug doors on each side, they are probably special purpose equipment assigned to the automobile industry. They probably would be used for hauling auto parts such as engines, transmissions, bumpers, and so on. Ford, Chrysler, and GM may be experiencing a seasonal slowdown right now, so the cars could be temporarily surplus.
If what you describe are boxcars with old looking rust on the wheel tread, they could be equipment waiting for a program repair and/or upgrade line. The railroad could be accumulating equipment needing some improvements now, and when enough is collected they’ll run an assembly line style maintenance program and fix all of the cars at once.
If the cars carry C&O, B&O, SCL, CSXT or any other predecessor road reporting marks, no storage fee is involved. If a car carries a reporting mark whose last letter is “X,” then a storage fee may be involved.
A plug door is one that fits into the door opening, rather than just sliding over it. Another name used for these is “flush” doors, as in flush with the car sides. Refrigerator and insulated box cars all have them, as do most of the more modern high-roof box cars. They’re usually distinguishable by an opening/closing device on the door itself, connected to a pair of vertical rods with cams on the ends, for sealing the door in place.
And these cars are not supposed to be moved if the doors are not closed, as the doors have a nasty tendency to fall off the boxcar as it travels down the tracks.
Yes, heavier auto parts quite often are handled in 50- and 60-foot (70- and 100-ton–not respectively!) box cars. The 86-footers (actually 86-6 inside–they’re all that length!) cars probably mostly carried body parts. Not too many of those have been built in the past 25 years.
Most modern auto-parts cars (and it seems like NS is about the only one getting them in any quantity) are 60-foot, high-roof cars.
Yes, DF, that’s a plug door. And Jim is right–by their nature, plug doors are heavier, and roll more freely when they’re not closed and locked. A loose one on a moving train is as much a potential hazard trackside as loose bands on lumber loads.
On the CN-GTW tracks the once common ACF. Pullman-Standard, and Thrall Car 60’ Auto Parts Box Cars with Sliding Doors are now less common. Where did they go? Did all the new TTX RailBox FBOX and TBOX Boxcars replace them?
The assembly of todays automobiles requies fewer parts being shipped by rail to complete their assembly. Additionaly there are fewer plants in the country that assemble ‘US’ cars. US Railroads try to keep their operating car supply in step with the actual demand for the cars. Cars that are excess for the current level of transportation demand get stored until demand either picks up or vanishes entirely. When demand for a particular car type vanishes then decisions are made as to what should ultimately happen to the car…change the accessories to use them in a different service or sell them to another carrier or lessor or sell them for scrap value. Cars are a large investment in the railroad industry.
The FBOX and TBOX cars will usually not be found hauling auto parts. Your old standbys in this business are probably being retired due to old age. Not being up in that part of the state, I haven’t seen what, if anything, CN is doing to replace them. I do see some of the most recent 60-foot auto-parts cars that GTW uses down here on occasion, as well as a lot of cars, both 50 and 60 feet in length, that have been rebuilt with added height.
A few months ago, I saw some recently repainted SP boxcars that had something like GM Shreveport Parts Shuttle prominently painted or decaled on them. Appearently, just after UP did this (I wonder if there was any rebuilding done) GM decided to close that plant. When I saw them, they were hauling linerboard or corrugating medium.
They may not be the same cars, just similar. Can you read the car numbers? Check to see if they don’t change every so-often. There is a spur near my home that is usually home to a grey, 4-bay airslide hopper. If one is parked there, it is always the same type and color CH with identical markings, but the car is actually replaced on about a weekly basis with an identical but different car. The siding may be a staging track for an industry down the line. Empties are staged here until the loads at the plant need to be switched out. After the loaded cars reach their destination and come back, they need a place to sit nearby until needed.
