With intermodal containers and trailers as the convenient choice for hauling bulk dry goods by rail in today's world, what kind of freight is still hauled by boxcars today? Boxcars are still frequently seen on manifest trains so they're obviously not obsolete. I have space for an extra industry on my layout and I'd want it to be one that's served by boxcars.
I know of two distribution centers (Toys R' Us in Georgia and Walmart in Arizona) which received low-priority stock one or a few SKU per carload, then broke it down for delivery to local retail outlets by truck. Higher-priority stock and Chinese imports arrived as box trailers, or as containers on highway chassis - also usually one or a few SKU per box.
Trucks to local retail outlets would contain a man-liftable box or few each of several hundred SKU. This was arranged within the large, rather featureless building by automated handling equipment.
Don't know how much space you have, but both of those facilities are moderately humongous. With parking for trucks and employee cars, one would eat most of a 4x8 sheet of plywood.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Paper for one -- the Quad Graphics plants in Wisconsin still get boxcars (so they can print, among other things, Kalmbach magazines). Canned food is another item that is still shipped in boxcars, and food in boxcars is an important commodity for the Wisconsin & Southern RR.
Dave Nelson
What do boxcars carry? Any and everything that needs protection from the weather. Boxed consumer goods ( anything you see in a store that came in a box, as a case lot like canned goods, boxed food, toys), bagged ag. products, bagged construction products, furniture, beverages, all types of paper, and cardboard, including packaging products, industrial and manufacturing parts and products, just to name a few.
Not everything is shipped in containers. From what I've been reading, boxcars are getting in short supply, and still needed.
Mike.
EDIT: Just like what Dave said above.
My You Tube
Scout around here and see some ideas...
http://freightrailworks.org/what-does-freight-rail-ship-for-you/
https://www.aar.org/Pages/Freight-Rail-and-Whirlpool.aspx
One of my favorite commodities, of course, is
Have Fun! Ed
We have a company (L&L Manufactured Components) that makes special acrylic display for department stores, convenience, grocery, candy, and ice cream.
I believe it ships in boxcars for long distant travel, since it doesn't need reefer, or container loading.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
Just paper around my area.
Russell
Lumber. Bricks. I know of a place that, until recently, got big rectangular pieces of metal that they milled into...something.
Until recently, my employer shipped a dry chemical packaged in 50 pound bags (for retail use), and 2000 pound "super sacks" (for commercial use) in boxcars. All of it palletized for easy handling.
Mike
Anything that go in a container can go in a boxcar plus anything bigger or heavier than can fit in container can go in a boxcar. There are thousands upon thousands of commodities that go in boxcars.
They will be shipments that have N American origins and destinations.
They will be shipments where the weight is more than a container can handle.
They may be shipments bigger physically than a container can handle.
Auto parts, paper, millwork, food products, beverages, furniture, consumer goods, etc. all go in boxcars.
Here are some commodites that have been shipped by boxcar in areas I've worked: Rubber, scrap paper, paper rolls, kegs of spikes, bagged dry milk, cotton seed hulls, bagged lava rock, injection molded plastic parts, beer bottles, beer, shingles, raw sugar, french fry containers (the cardboard things your fries come in at a fast food place), pallets of chemicals, hay, scrap electronics, copper ingots, scrap brake shoes.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Lots of good info in this thread. An appliance distribution center was mentioned, but another option would be an appliance manufacturing facility.
You'd have single-door, low-cube boxcars of castings/subassemblies, as well as coil steel cars coming in, and high-cube, double door boxcars of finished appliances going out.
With two different types of boxcars needed you'd get the boxcar traffic you're looking for, with an occasional coil steel car thrown in for variety.
Great discussion guys b/c I was looking for specific things also. Would pallets also get carried on boxcars? There are probably many, many different things they carry.
Years ago, the company I worked for did a huge addition to an injection moulding facility, that received pellets in hoppers, and sent out a few box cars with the pallets that they made. These were pallets designed to hold different sizes of Pepsi products. Ten of these pallets nested together was about belt high, once the stack was completed, about 5 or 6' tall.
Most went out on trucks, but they did load a few box cars.
I work mostly with merchandise freight, I know we haul, bricks, roofing shingles, paper, rock salt, pet food, can goods, wine, beer, lead plates, toys, sacks of rice, card board, lumber, plywood, military supplies, copper ingots, aluminum ingots, steel products, bagged sugar, auto parts, wood pulp, flour. I'm sure there are other things. The yellow Tbox cars are very popular with shippers you can fit 3 to 5 truckloads in one car. Hundreds of them are being built.
James Sanchez