Hi-Cube 50' and 60' boxcars?

Model Railroader Prototype information for the modeler
1

I hear that 50’ and 60’ high-cube plate-F boxcars are used for paper service. Is this their only use, or are hi-cube used for general freight too? I guess that the 60’ high-cubes, such as the yellow TTX TBOXs, could be used for auto-parts too. Are the high-cube boxcars like the 50’ FBOXes and 60’ TBOXes insulated enough to ship canned goods? TTX does have a the IBOX reporting mark for insulated boxcars, though only one IBOX was ever built, IBOX 11012. Did TTX forego the IBOX because their FBOX and TBOX are already adequate enough for the type of freight IBOX cars would have been used for?

2

i remember seeing them in assigned auto parts service usually for heavier commodities like engines etc. i think they were also used for appliance loads similar to the early 40’ high cube cars.

grizlump

3

Lumber (especially plywood) grades that need to be protected from the elements are still commonly shipped in double-door 50’ and 60’ boxcars.

Paper is common in 50’ standard and hi-cube boxcars with plug doors, you’ll often also see 50’ boxcars with side vents on them for hauling baled pulp from pulp mills to other paper mills. While there are large series of 50’ cars specifically assigned to hauling paper to keep a good supply of clean high quality cars for shippers (especially on roads serving a lot of paper mills, like CN, MMA, and there’s a large series of green CRLE 50’ hi-cubes assigned to paper loading on the New Brunswick Southern), there’s really nothing inherent about their design to restrict them to a specific service.

60’ Hi-cubes are also common for shipping appliances.

4

I do not believe the FBOX and TBOX style cars have any insulation. They are standard box cars.

5

Maybe this will help?

http://www.ge.com/railservices/products/railequipment/100tonboxcar.html

6

I like the OP’s question. [^]

I have a number of the E&C Shops SP and SSW 50ft hi cubes… I don’t know whether these would have been used in any actual services from somewhere(?) to Chicago… but if they were what might they have been loaded with… south to north or north to south?

Thanks

[:P]

7

Those cars would be consigned to a shipper which would load it and then ship it to his customer regardless of location or rail line.

Freight cars travel far and wide.

Check this site out.

http://www.ge.com/railservices/products/railequipment/100tonboxcar.html

8

Thanks. [8D] I realise that. I was hoping that someone might come up with a nice traffic that would relate to a regular working of a large cut of cars…?

I have a string of double door UP boxcars that I reckon could get just about everywhere but I am wondering whether a dozen or so hi-cubes would be confined to a more specialised service?

[^]

9

the Whirlpool appliance plant at Evansville Indiana used to have a lot of such cars from different railroads in assigned service. i think the arrangement was sort of like that which was done with high-cube auto parts cars. each railroad contributed to the pool based on the total line haul they got from the plant overall. the cars did not necessarily go out over the car owner’s road but were loaded to whatever destination was getting the next load. they were always returned to origin when empty via reverse route.

i would imagine other similar industries like Maytag at Galesburg Illinois and Fedders at Effingham had fleets assigned the same way. there were probably shippers like that all over the country.

of course, this was back when we still made things in this country besides babies.

grizlump

10

Ok…Besides what griz suggested there are other possibilities such as a knitting company(rolls of cloth or cotton),a distillery(glass bottles),a dashboard manufacturer,a rubber toy manufacturer(receives sheet rubber)…There are others…

11

what section of which railroad are you modeling? that would help in coming up with a scenario for traffic.

grizlump