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Post by sd40dash2 on Mar 11, 2019 7:59:40 GMT -8
Does anyone have a present-day status on the prototype 1970s-built 50' exterior post "Railbox" boxcars that were once so common? I know there are plenty of newer and longer hi-cube Railboxes out there these days but this inquiry is about the older style cars. Have the older ones all been scrapped by now?
I did not find much information about this after spending time on google search results and do not recall seeing many of the old rust buckets myself over the past 5 years.
For clarity, this is the general car style and paint scheme I'm referring to, with Railbox paint. I am not referring to those cars which were purchased by others and repainted plain brown and such:
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2019 11:33:46 GMT -8
Simple answer: they are outlawed and beyond the end of their "legal" life for interchange between railroads. The ones you do see are literally down to their last year or two of FRA eligibility for interchange service. All the original 1974, 1975 and 1976 Railbox cars are already gone. Most of the earlier ones were actually sold off to the railroads during the 80's and have already vanished.
The car in the photo above appears to be a Plate C height 5277 cubic foot Pullman Standard car built somewhere between 1978 to 1980, before Pullman went to the 5344 cubic foot flat top model.
Normal freight car life is 40 years, unless "rebuilt" and re-capitalized for depreciation purposes. Tank cars get a special exemption to 50 years. Ordinary box cars seem to not get much rebuilding anymore.
So right now only the 1979 or newer built cars, of which there were still many thousands, are still out there. However, literally they are down to the last couple years of life depending upon whether it is a 1979 built car or a 1981 built car.
They look very well used up, because why would anybody spend money on something that is going to scrap soon?
I've seen solid trains of 100 or more Railbox cars stored locally, that were very likely just awaiting their final one way trip to the scrapper, or were being stored nearby the scrapper.
Also, the newer 60' TBOX cars offer more interior room and are considered "more useful" by shippers, so those old 50' cars are...well their days are numbered.
I like these cars too. They make up more than 10% of my rolling stock fleet. We are at the end of an era. A relative handful of 1982 and 1983 cars, including some combination door cars, should still be around a little while longer. The vast majority will go quickly. |
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Post by 12bridge on Mar 12, 2019 14:04:30 GMT -8
The 1970s IPD boxcars are dropping like flies as well.
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Post by brakie on Mar 12, 2019 15:44:14 GMT -8
I watch several live feed rail cams and still see the older 50'Railbox boxcars(like the one in the photo) in service.
On Rochelle rail cam I still see SP boxcars in all the their glory including SP initials in UP train consist. A real treat to a old boxcar fan like me was seeing a SP and SSW (Cotton Belt) still carrying their original initials coupled together.. Beautiful to say the least.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Mar 12, 2019 17:03:45 GMT -8
I watch several live feed rail cams and still see the older 50'Railbox boxcars(like the one in the photo) in service. I wonder if those might be ones that belong to specific railways but were never repainted out of their original scheme? I understand that CN still has a few running around but on closer inspection you can see they are the cars purchased from Railbox in the mid-1980s (due to their patched "CN" markings). |
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Post by brakie on Mar 12, 2019 18:46:10 GMT -8
I watch several live feed rail cams and still see the older 50'Railbox boxcars(like the one in the photo) in service. I wonder if those might be ones that belong to specific railways but were never repainted out of their original scheme? I understand that CN still has a few running around but on closer inspection you can see they are the cars purchased from Railbox in the mid-1980s (due to their patched "CN" markings). The ones I saw still had RBOX initials, I have seen the patch jobs like you mention on exRailBox cars. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 13, 2019 7:07:52 GMT -8
I work next to the CSX mainline, and see them every once in a blue moon. I'm pretty sure I own more for my own railroad than I've seen in real life in the past 2 years.
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Post by fr8kar on Mar 15, 2019 10:45:36 GMT -8
I believe the new number is 50 years, so it's still common to see cars built in the 70s. I'm not sure what the criteria is for a car to go from 40 years to 50 years, but a lot of them qualify. Once they hit 50 years though their destiny is MOW, company service or the torch.
I still see these Railbox cars regularly serving a couple different industries. There are a handful that come through here carrying giant sacks of sugar for a bottling plant. Others can be found mixed in among the 60' high cubes in containerboard or copy paper service.
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Post by sd40dash2 on Mar 15, 2019 17:01:33 GMT -8
Thank you to all for your thoughtful responses. My last photo is from 2013. If anyone sees one of these cars in ABOX or RBOX markings, I would be grateful for some present-day photos. I do most of my railfanning on CP and I have not seen one of these cars on their lines in quite a while. They used to be way more common.
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Post by Judge Doom on Mar 16, 2019 5:19:55 GMT -8
Correction time: July 1st 1974 was the changeover date from AAR interchange rules going from 40 year max car life to 50 year max car life in interchange service. Cars built before July 1974 subject to the 40 year rule could also get an inspection and 10 year life extension as well (Extended Service Status), so for a while it wasn't unusual to see some pre-July 1974 cars running over 40 years. There were also some older 89' TTX flatcars out there in use under autoracks that have service extensions granted to them to run up to 65 years (Increased Life Status, also now applicable to other cars - see here). Cars built beginning and after July 1st 1974 are subject to the 50 year interchange lifespan (but can get ILS as above). Note, this applies only for cars in interchange service. Railroads can run older freight cars as long as they stay on their own lines (non-interchange service), or if they're only going to another railroad the two can work out an agreement to interchange the older equipment with each other (say, old specialty cars needed by one shipper that are going between two specific points over two railroads). |
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wsor
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The Route of the Ruptured Duck
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Post by wsor on Mar 16, 2019 19:37:12 GMT -8
I still see a fair number of RBOXs in pulpboard service, headed to a box making plant. This service seems to be the last stand for plain, unequipped boxcars. Lots of rustbuckets. Printing paper cars are usually in better shape.
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Post by bncascadegreen on May 3, 2019 3:12:32 GMT -8
I live near a rail repair shop, actually 2 as they are brought in they are inspected, and released or scrapped on site. Last few years seen a few Railbox boxcars get torched, cut up and hauled away. There’s mire that go to the other shop that are condemned. By that I mean there’s a CONDEMNED sticker on the car and the reporting mark and number are spray painted one line so you can still see said car and scrapped at the shop....
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Post by bncascadegreen on May 3, 2019 3:12:42 GMT -8
I live near a rail repair shop, actually 2 as they are brought in they are inspected, and released or scrapped on site. Last few years seen a few Railbox boxcars get torched, cut up and hauled away. There’s mire that go to the other shop that are condemned. By that I mean there’s a CONDEMNED sticker on the car and the reporting mark and number are spray painted one line so you can still see said car and scrapped at the shop....
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