freight carscars journaljournal -...

FreightFreightFreightFreightFreightCarsCarsCarsCarsCarsJournalJournalJournalJournalJournalNo 81

Pullman’s Tank CarsBox Cars 1983-1999

January 2000January 2000January 2000January 2000January 2000

Freight Cars Journal No 81

Freight Cars JournalFreight Cars JournalFreight Cars JournalFreight Cars JournalFreight Cars JournalNumber 81 January 2000Number 81 January 2000Number 81 January 2000Number 81 January 2000Number 81 January 2000

Contents

Feature Articles

Pullman’s Tank Cars Part 1 James Kinkaid & David G. Casdorph 3

Box Cars 1983-1999: A Type AnalysisDavid G. Casdorph 8

Front coverPTLX 82014 is a 20,754 gallon tank car that was built in April 1974 by Richmond Tank CarHouston (Sheldon), Texas. Builder’s reference # 1074. DOT 111A100W5. AAR T055.External length 50’7”.

COPYRIGHT © 2000 SOCIETY OF FREIGHT CAR HISTORIANS ISSN 0742-9355

David G. CasdorphP.O. Box 2480

Monrovia CA 91017

or

[email protected]

Editors: D G Casdorph, E A Neubauer, and J A Kinkaid. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the informa-tion and data forming the content of this publication, the authors, editors, and publishers cannot be held responsible forerrors or omission, or for any loss or damage occasioned by any person using the information contained in this publication.Subscription rates (hardcopy version) are $26.00 for 4 issues delivered to U.S. addresses (for other rates please write).Printed on archival quality acid-free paper. Typeset in 12/14.4 pt. Arial. All photos are by David G. Casdorph unless other-wise noted.


PULLMAN’s TANK CARSPart 1

Reviewing the tank cars ofTransport Leasing, Pullman Transport, and Pullman Leasing.

Photos courtesy James Kinkaid. Captions David G Casdorph.

PLCX 92544. This is a 23,531 gallon insulated and coiled tank car that was built byGulf Railcar (formerly Richmond Tank Car) in Houston (Sheldon) Texas. Lot num-ber 3002. Built January 1990. DOT class 111A100W3. AAR car type code T106.External length 55’6”.

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PLCX 129025 is a non-insulated tank without coils. This is the type of tank thatusually carries alcohol, methanol and related products. This has a 29,815 galloncapacity. It was built in October 1987 by Trinity Industries (File # 8725). DOT class111A100W1. AAR car type code T108. External length 67’11”.

PLCX 129187 is another alcohol/methanol type tank (non-insulated, un-coiled, circa30,000 gallons). DOT class 111A100W1. This one was built by Union Tank Car inEast Chicago, Indiana during January 1989. Builder’s reference # 6589. Actualcapacity 29,983 gallons. AAR car type code T108. External length 69’0”.


PLCX 129187 is another non-insulated un-coiled tank car built under builder’s ref-erence # 6589 by Union Tank Car. This one was built in May 1989. Capacity is30,010 gallons. DOT class 111A100W1. Non-insulated un-coiled. AAR car typecode T108. External length 69’0”.

PLCX 180007 is a rare tank on any fleet. This is an aluminum tank (with steelframe) used for transporting hydrogen peroxide. Most hydrogen peroxide tankersare closer to 20,000 gallons. This has a capacity of 8,218 gallons. Built by TrinityIndustries, Tulsa, Oklahoma in December 1987. It was originally leased to FMCCorporation. DOT class 111A60ALW2. AAR car type code T012. External length40’4”.


PLCX 220373 is a 20,507 gallon insulated coiled tank car. Built by Trinity Indus-tries, Longview, Texas in November 1987. Trinity File # 8724. AAR car type codeT105. External length 48’11”.

PLCX 220540 is nearly identical to 220373 above. This 20,532 gallon insulatedcoiled tank car was built in February 1988 by Trinity Industries, Longview, Texas(File # 8751). Originally leased to the Mobay Corporation. DOT 111A100W3. AARcar type code T105. External length 48’11”.


PLCX 224313 is a 23,711 gallon insulated coiled tank car. Built by Trinity Industriesin December 1987 (File # 8723). AAR car type code T106. External length 55’5”.

PLCX 224706 was built by Union Tank Car’s East Chicago, Indiana plant in Janu-ary 1989 (Builder’s reference # 6591). AAR car type code T106. External length55’5”.


Background1983, or as I refer to it as the

Great American Freight Car Depression.This is the year that according to theARCI had the fewest deliveries of new-built freight cars (5,570 cars delivered).During the previous five years over aquarter-million cars were delivered new.The Seventies were the era of 50-footPlate B and Plate C box cars. Buildersof box cars during the Seventies seemedrise from everywhere. Trailer Train sawsuch a lucrative market that they com-piled Railbox, a huge pool fleet of boxcars for the Class 1 railroads. Box carswere being built everywhere...until 1983.

The last box cars that came outof the assembly line were in some waysa sign of the future. While 50-foot PlateB and Plate C boxes dominated theyears before, Burlington Northern’s376500-series were 52-foot Plate Fdouble-plug-door cars. The high-cubebox’s time had come - just not yet.

There were no box cars built forthree years. In 1987, The Chessie Sys-tem expanded their GM auto parts ser-vice and received fifty unusual 52-footPlate E double-sliding-door box cars thatwere built (ironically) at the former Pull-man-Standard plant in Bessemer, Ala-bama (the birth site of so many boxcars).

The following year, 1988, sawnew box car deliveries for BurlingtonNorthern and Montana Rail Link (trafficand routes spun off from BN) . A whop-ping 310 cars were built (210 for BN and100 for MRL). Both groups were high-cube Plate F plug-door boxes. Both carswere built by a newly re-emergedGunderson (previously FMC, previouslyGunderson Inc, previously GundersonBrothers Engineering) that would be thedominating force during the Nineties. Asmall (40) follow-up order of boxes iden-tical to the BN cars were delivered tothe WCRC in January 1989.

1990 saw 320 more newly deliv-ered box cars. Again all were Plate Fplug-door designs built by Gunderson.Burlington Northern again acquireddouble plug cars (the BN 375880-se-ries); while A&G (A Greenbrier...readGunderson company) acquired two se-ries of identical single-plug door cars (theAG 1000- and 2000-series).

From the “Seventies flashback”year of 1991 came a series of 50-footPlate C single-plug-door box cars (CRLE6200-series). This series of 125 carswere even stencilled as 5277 cubic-foot...a very common size during theSeventies. The flashback continued into1992 with the deliveries of three-hundred50-foot Plate C single-plug-door cars for

Box Cars 1983-1999:A Type Analysis

Evolution of the box car types that have emerged since 1983.David G Casdorph


1983

1986

1989

1992

1995

1998

0

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Wisconsin Central (WC 21000-series)again all from Gunderson.

In 1993, Burlington Northern,Montana Rail Link and Kansas CitySouthern all acquired new box cars.However, there were a few surprises thisyear. First, the Burlington Northern cars(BN 287000-series) were built by TrinityIndustries at their Greenville, PA plant(yes, the old Greenville Steel Car loca-tion). These were the first true newboxes from Trinity Industries. The de-sign incorporated Pullman-Standard fea-tures as well as new features. The Mon-tana Rail Link (MRL 11000-series) carswere nearly the same as the boxes de-livered by Gunderson before (MRL10001-series of 1988) but, with somenew features incorporated (new doormanufacturer, wide post design etc).Kansas City Southern ordered threeseries of boxes; a 60-foot Plate F (that

is really a Plate E size), a loader-equipped 50-foot Plate E, and a plain50-foot Plate E.

This brings us to 1994-95...theRebirth of the Box Car. Trenton Works(who had built a few small series for BCRail began some bigger production start-ing with Canadian National’s order offive-hundred 60-foot Plate E combina-tion door cars (actually started produc-tion on this series in December 1993).This was followed by a new 50-foot PlateF design. National Steel Car even builta small series (150) of 50-foot Plate Fcars for Burlington Northern. Gundersonintroduced their 6269 cube 50-foot PlateF design. And, Trinity Industries builtsome single-sliding door 50-foot PlateF cars for the GERSCO (OAR)...slidingdoors on Plate F cars are rare. At thistime it seemed the whole world of boxcar were again alive!


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In mid-1996, Greenbrier (the par-ent company of Gunderson) acquiredTrenton Works (the last cars built byTrenton Works before the Greenbriertakeover were the CN/NOKL 558000-series). Trenton-built boxes soon ac-quired some of the Gundersonfeatures...most notably the wide post.However, Trenton boxes still at thepresent time continue to use formerTrenton side sill, door frame and endfeatures.

While most of the box cars builtsince 1983 have been employed insome sort of paper service - we are be-ginning to see the beginnings of new-built auto-parts boxes. America’s autoparts box fleet is getting quite old. Mostof the special design Plate G (back thencalled Plate F+) 60-foot and 86-foot carshaven’t been built since the late Seven-ties. However, both Gunderson and Trin-ity have built 60-foot Plate G double-plug-door designs for Norfolk Southern,TFM, and Union Pacific. With the break-

up of Conrail this really only leaves theCSX, NS and UP as traditional autoparts box operators. There’s been talkof building 86-footer again...but so farno action.

The Nineties Box CarSo, what is the Nineties box car?

If the 50-foot Plate C sliding-door boxcar dominated new deliveries during thelate Seventies...then certainly the 50-foot Plate F plug-door box car was itsequivalent during the Nineties. TheGunderson 6269 cube design emergesas the most numerous single type (inboth Gunderson and Trenton versions).

Nearly 57% of all boxes built dur-ing the period 1983-1999 were 50-foottypes (Table 1). A whopping 72% of theboxes built were considered “high-cubes” (Table 2). And, 78% of the boxesbuilt had plug-doors (Table 3). Finally,Gunderson emerged as the largest pro-ducer of box cars during this period(Table 4).


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This article summarizes 14,694 box cars known tobe new-built from 1983 to June 1999.


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Additional References:

http://www.rpi.org/arcistat.htm This is the website where one can find statistics forfreight car orders, deliveries, and back orders for each year from 1956-present.

Box Cars Since 1983 by David G. Casdorph. 1994. Published by the Society ofFreight Car Historians. Monrovia CA. This book has 54 B&W photos plus rostersup through 1994. Includes rebuilt box cars during this period, too. Softcover, saddle-stitched, glossy paper. 44 pp. Still available from D.G. Casdorph PO Box 2480Monrovia CA 91017 @ $25.00 ppd.

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