Was the reporting mark on one car, out of many similar.
I was watching an auto rack unit train last night where most of the cars looked pretty much “cookie cuttered” from the same , standard pattern, only the paint differed by road.
Then along came a string that really stood out as oddballs all marked “AWS” with individual car numbers that followed. They really looked like something else that had been converted to auto use, perhaps old livestock cars? The flat bar lattice on the sides in place of where most standard racks use perforated plate, really stood out.
Anyone know the history behind these cars?
This sounds fascinating, hopefully somebody can get some pictures!
AWS 800079 doesn’t compute.
However, ATW 800079 is an auto rack originally built for the UP by Thrall. It was part of the only large order of “Q2” auto racks, which were intended to improve utilization by being able to accommodate a deckload of automobiles in addition to two decks full of pickups, SUVs, or whatever else takes up more room. Unlike most racks, which are built on a flat car, these were purpose-built cars that had no platform or underframe–instead the bottom deck drops down between the trucks.
UP’s entire fleet (almost) was relettered ATW, without being renumbered.