Given that NAFTA has been around for a few years now one would expect to see a fair number of Mexican freight cars on US and Canadian rails. Yet I haven’t seen any up here in Canada. Is most rail freight to/from Mexico containerized or do they simply not send their boxcars north?
We get plenty of Mexican box cars up here in “almost Canada”. Most of them arrive with shipments of Corona Light–find a place that gets similar shipments and you’ll probably see a few.
Also watch for box cars in the HS 30000 and 75000 series. Despite their assortment of liveries from American railroads, they’re also handling the beer from Mexico, and for a time carried the reporting marks of the Chiapas-Mayab line (FCCM).
We’re seeing mexican blt covered hoppers here and lots of them,mainly BNSF 865,000 series
Here at the PTRA, we get everything from Mexican tankcars for chlorine service to open gondolas to coil cars and covered hoppers.
Had some TexMex auto racks, some lettered for KCS, and Fero…heck, we even get a lot of Canadian hoppers in wheat service…love those Alberta car and paint.
As you can see, we get quite a lot of “foreign” stuff, lots of different paint so to speak, and we ship a few of them out to boot.
I spotted an “N. de M.” (Nacional de Mexico) basic brown boxcar going thru Galesburg on the exx-CB&Q. This would be September 25, 2008. At Rochelle I’ve also seen KCS de Mexico boxcars with the same (older) paint scheme as other KCS freight. Once in a while I’ll see a TFM auto carrier. Look for the red-green Mexican flag.
Speaking of N. de M.,
does anyone know enough Spanish to know the English translation of the slogan:
“UNIR SERVIR”?
Update: I checked with a knowledgeable friend, and “Unir Servir” can indeed be translated “United to Serve” - a.s.
Aren’t those the ones with square wheels??
Going the other way, I heard one grain exporter stopped sending their hoppers to Mexico.
The top hatches often came back damaged. It seems locals would jump aboard, open the top hatches and scoop what they could to the ground and waiting relatives. Speed of access was more important than proper operation.
Cars were slow in returning, if at all. One car was reportedly found on an unsued siding with a family living in it.
This is all anecdotal. Does anybody know if there are many problems with cars crossing the border?
I think that’s a pretty good translation. The slogan is a bit tough to translate as both words are verbs in the infinitive case. So it’s literally “To unite, to serve” or “Uniting, serving”, neither of which really comes across well. I like your suggestion.
Regards
Ed
Close. I suspect that you’re referring to that red/green flag (field split diagonally with red in the upper right, green in the lower left) on TFM units. That isn’t the Mexican flag but the old logo of TMM (Transportes Maritimos Mexicanos, or Mexican Maritime Transportation) who was 50% co-owner with KCS of TFM. When they created the new company in 1997 they just adapted the old logo by changing one of the letters. (for an example see http://www.tmm.com.mx/esp/directorio/ferroviario/tfm/Default.asp).
Regards
Ed
In one of the flatcars one sees a locomotive being carried. Judging by the idications, it seems to be an EMD export unit destined to Argentinas Ferrosur. That’s also another reason for it to be carried like that since Argentina uses 1600 mm broad gauge
There are certainly a few areas down here that are known for theft of material from cars of all types. But from the trains of hoppers I’ve seen moving north and south down here (many of them strings of the new KCS hoppers or the new BNSF ones) it doesn’t appear to be a major deterrent to traffic.
I believe that was more of a problem before the privatization of FNM back in the 90’s. With KCSdeM (the largest railroad down here in terms of traffic) being a wholly owned subsidiary of KCS and with Ferromex having 26% participation, better car control systems are among the improvements that have been implemented. Being private enterprises, the railroads are now much more sensite to demurrage charges than was the case when it was a government operation.
Regards
Ed
This would be one of my favorite imports…[:D]
All of those darn freight cars from mexico coming over here and doing the work american freight cars dont want to do.[;)]
I drive by a steel transload center in St Paul MN on the way to work & it’s not uncommon to see FXE coil cars
There is a block of mexican boxcars in a UP train going through Springfield, OR fairly regularly. Presumably going to/from Portland, Seattle, or somewhere else int that area.
Hey Ed !
That would be a favorite of mine too…BTW,Thats a good pic of you…
What do they call these Ferrosur Roca units? Arent they the diesel version of the old EC60’s?