Hi everyone,
I have in my collection a number of 86' box cars. Many have logos from the Pennsy & NYC era, and I have some in CSX. Do the railroads still use them or have they all been retired or scrapped?
Thanks to all whi reply!
Neal
nealknowsHi everyone, I have in my collection a number of 86' box cars. Many have logos from the Pennsy & NYC era, and I have some in CSX. Do the railroads still use them or have they all been retired or scrapped? Thanks to all whi reply! Neal
I'm sure they outlived their auto parts years but since my brain goes dead after about 1990, I'm not sure how many were used and for what in later life.
A good place to check is: https://www.railcarphotos.com/
Photo's of BN cars in the 1990's.
https://www.railcarphotos.com/Search.php?SearchReportingMark=bn&SearchEquipTypeID=9&Search=Search&PageNumber=8
Here is a photo of an old DTI 86 footer in 2007:
https://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=19507
Another in 2007:
https://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=18781\
I'm sure there are more if you take some time to search.
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
CSX claims to be able to supply 86ft box cars for use in shipping automobile parts and appliances.CSX Railroad Equipment
"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."BTW, for the record: "CSX does not own or provide tank cars.", so I guess they would mention if they don't have any 86ft'ers (unless that website hasn't been updated since before the EHH-alypse).ETA. Union Pacific does NOT list 86ft boxcars on it's equipment guide, just 50ft and 60ft variants: UP Customer Equipment Guide - BoxcarsThe same holds true for BNSF: BNSF Customer Equipment GuideNorfolk Southern ... may have some in their fleet: (NS Automotive Equipment - 86ft boxcar - pretty generic page).Reviewing the huge fleet leasing equipment pools for the 86ft'ers is an exercise left to the reader...
Until recently, Altoona was a sea of Conrail 86 footers waiting for the scrapper They're all gone as well as the yard they were in.
I counted exactly 9 in Conway, in three groups of three. This pattern suggests someone is still asking for them, but not in the volumes they once were.
I saw two Norfolk Southern 86 footers in a UP east bound here in Texas yesterday, Oct. 30, 2018.
Guys,
Thanks for the GREAT replies! What is interesting is just this morning I saw on one of the railcams a string of NS box cars that looked like 86' cars.
This information will be put to great use on my railroad. Now it's time to add them to the railroad!
I’m pretty sure the RRMPA has an ex Conrail automotive boxcar. Last time I was there, it was back where they are keeping NKP 757. If NS started to scrap them, this may be one they preseever.
I see these cars all the time while railfanning Norfolk Southern here in Pittsburgh. Most have a reporting mark of NS, but I have seen both Conrail & Southern cars. Most of the time they are on a mixed freight, but once or twice I saw a couple of them with auto racks.
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
BN had a few. I don't know if any are left. What's especially interesting is I heard they were transferred to toilet paper service. You could likely pack those cars full of TP, and still never approach the weight limit.
Ed
Has anyone seen an 86' boxcar with sliding doors as listed in the CSX boxcar specifications?
Boxcar Specifications
I know of no 86 foot hi-cube boxcars that were built with sliding doors. If any received them, it was very late in their existance but, it is extremely unlikely.
NHTXI know of no 86 foot hi-cube boxcars that were built with sliding doors. If any received them, it was very late in their existance but, it is extremely unlikely.
They are available for purchase from the National Steel Car catalog under "Jumbo Boxcar"
Depending on the intended service, door selection includes your choice of single plug doors, single or double plug doors, combination plug and sliding doors, or single or double sliding doors.
7j43k BN had a few. I don't know if any are left. What's especially interesting is I heard they were transferred to toilet paper service. You could likely pack those cars full of TP, and still never approach the weight limit. Ed
An interesting freelanced modeling idea. A TP plant calling for several 86 footers every few days. Excellent.
- Douglas
chutton01 They are available for purchase from the National Steel Car catalog under "Jumbo Boxcar" .Sadly they illustrated their catalog page with a FBOX Plug Door image (looks like a 60ft actually, although that may be an optical illusion), so the mythical sliding door 86ft boxcar remains shrouded in mystery.
.Sadly they illustrated their catalog page with a FBOX Plug Door image (looks like a 60ft actually, although that may be an optical illusion), so the mythical sliding door 86ft boxcar remains shrouded in mystery.
Maybe that's because none have been built.
https://www.progressiverailroading.com/railproducts/product.aspx?id=15
They definitely exist.
NittanyLion https://www.progressiverailroading.com/railproducts/product.aspx?id=15 They definitely exist.
Well, one does, anyway.
AFAIK NSC only built the one as a demonstrator, and it hasn't been duplicated yet.
Chris van der Heide
My Algoma Central Railway Modeling Blog
THAT is interesting, but is it too late---kinda like Lima's Super Power steam? It seems as if the FBOX/TBOX crowd provides a more versatile vehicle.
Looks like it might have gotten actual reporting marks.
In the July 2015 ORER, there's an NSCX 2086. National Steel Car Limited. IL 86 06, IH 15 04, door opening 16 feet, cuft 11052, GRL 286,000.
I can't find any photos, though. Maybe they couldn't find anyone to give it a try.
The fine folks at MFCL told be that this car was NS 489700 from about 2007 to 2011--maybe longer.
Here's a shot:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2254435
7j43kThe fine folks at MFCL told be that this car was NS 489700 from about 2007 to 2011--maybe longer.
Russell
I've heard the CIA (no kidding) uses old 86' boxcars as spy stations with a fiberglass panel in the roof to enable satallite coms. Who would suspect anything clandestine about an old rusty boxcar?
drh
NYC7000 I've heard the CIA (no kidding) uses old 86' boxcars as spy stations with a fiberglass panel in the roof to enable satallite coms. Who would suspect anything clandestine about an old rusty boxcar?
Riiiiiiiight. Be sure to wear your aluminum foil hat so they can't hear what you are thinking.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
nealknowsDo the railroads still use them or have they all been retired or scrapped?
There's still quite a few in use. Watch the first five minutes or so of this Virtual Railfan 'grab bag' video from 12/19/22....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMPn4jmchCo
They'll turn up solo in odd places infrequently as survivors have proven useful for very low density products. Toilet paper, tissue paper, foam insulation, that sort of thing.
I could have sworn I photographed one near Atlanta inside the NS intermodal yard in 2019, but I cannot locate the image.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
The video in my link in my earlier post shows a string of 86' cars taken a couple of days ago on a train.
The 86' HC Boxcars are alive and still in use today. There primary use is hauling light weight auto parts, body stampings. These cars are very adaptable, I saw a picture of a DT&I 86' car hauling lumber, spotted at a lumber yard off the GTW in St. Johns, Michigan back before that line was torn up. They have hauled pallets of diapers, cereal, etc. The first cars came online in 1964, which makes them 59 yrs old and and still in interchange service, and they have out lived their brothers and cousins, the 40', 50', early 60' boxcar types, with little or no rebuilding. This makes them the most sucessful type of boxcar to date and I don't see them going away anytime soon. One can still see a former ICG car, still in orange paint, although quite weathered and worn, in capative service to Ford Motor working out of the Rouge Plant in Dearborn, Michigan.