I was watching one of the rail cams this morning, and noticed what looked like some NS 86’ box cars on a mixed freight. So I did some posting on one of the forums as well as my own digging. The replies on the forum were not only informative, but discovered some are still in service today!
From the CSX Website:
86' Auto Boxcar
These are exceptionally large boxcars, 86’ long, 10,000 cubic feet, with a hi-roof (Plate G) built specifically for shipping automobile parts and appliances. All offer cushioned underframes with double plug or sliding doors.
While designed for specific markets, when availability permits, these cars can be used for lightweight but bulky shipments such as tissue paper or insulation.
NS, KCS and CSX use them when needed. UP and BNSF do not list any 86’ cars on their sites. In addition, they not only use them for auto parts, but they're used on special requests for bulk dry products!
The A.P.R.R. has 8 of them on the railroad. 6 of them are mainly used for my participation when we have our virtual operation sessions. The remaining 2 are modern CSX cars.
Of those six on the railroad, 4 of them were custom painted by the Patti-O Paint Shop of the the N.Y.C.T.L. All of his work has been documented not only on this blog but John R's blog as well. Here is the link to these freight cars: Custom Painted 86 Foot Box Cars
Those cars are now on the A.P.R.R. property, and a matching set are located on the N.Y.C.T.L.
In addition, the following 86' Box Cars are on the N.Y.C.T.L.and K.P.D. layouts.
Last, but not least, I had a couple of CSX 86' Box Cars, which have been added to the layout as of this evening.
Now that I have them all on the railroad, I decided to have them do a short run on the railroad. I added a Scaletrains.com SD40-3 engine to the front of the train. This engine was an SD40-2 and CSX had made some modifications to them, included the cab. It reminds me of an angry look of the engine. This engine has sound and light effects. Here's a short video of the box cars.
Thanks for reading!
A nice look at your 86' boxcar fleet! Thanks for the shout out to the Patti-O Paint Shop!! I enjoyed learning that there are still 86' boxcars in use today. Cool video with the SD40-3! That is a sharp looking engine. Well done Sir Neal!
ReplyDeleteThose are impressive cars! The custom paint jobs from the Patti-O Paint Shop are beauts!
ReplyDeleteYep Impressive models Neal.
ReplyDeleteI see GTW and IC/ICG 86-footers on BNSF in California. These, of course, are now in CN service. ICG painted cars with the circle paint would have almost 50 year old paint schemes. I actually wonder how much longer these cars can qualify for interchange given their build dates in the 1960s and 70s.
ReplyDelete