Boxcars

[Anonymous]

Can Anyone Tell Me What Year Did The ARR Stop Building Boxcars With Running Boards.

[orsonroy]

I saw a boxcar with a running board in revenue service as recently as 1999, so the question you need to ask is, "What year did the AAR ban building new cars with running boards?", which was something like 1968.

[DSchmitt]

I found this on another site, it fits with what I remember.

"Running boards were eliminated from boxcars (without roof hatches)with cars placed in service after October 1, 1966. On cars built earlier, the running boards were to be removed by April 1, 1974. This date may have been extended. Regarding the footboards on switcher locomotives, these were eliminated from locomotives built after March 31, 1975 and removed from earlier locomotives by September 30, 1978."

An earlier topic on this site, which I was unable to find due to the forum search not working, gave substantially the same answer.

[AntonioFP45]

Good question, Dave

As a teen during the late 70s-early 80s, I remember seeing roofwalks dissappear from 50ft. Boxcars and Reefers. By the mid-80s I didn't see any during my "railfanning" outings though it's reasonable to say that with the thousands of older cars out there, some did make it into the 90s as Orsonroy indicates with his sighting.

I've been removing the roofwalks from most of my Athearn boxes and reefers and filling the holes in with putty.

[cacole]

Don't forget that side and end ladders were also eliminated or shortened when the roofwalks were done away with. With no roof walk, there was no need for a ladder with which to get on a roof, so newer cars had short ladders added and older cars either had their ladders removed or shortened.

[wp8thsub]

In addition to shortening the A end ladders, a couple other details are frequently omitted on models of "roofwalkless" house cars. First, a grab iron should be placed on the roof of the B end, roughly in the same location and of the same shape as the grab formerly mounted on the roofwalk. Next, a stencil reading "keep off roof no running board" or similar was typically found on the side of the car adjacent to the tall ladder at the B end. Herald King used to offer decals for these stencils.

The original cutoff date for roofwalk removal came and went with a fair number of cars never having been so modified. In the West, the WP and D&RGW especially, along with PFE, continued to receive deferments until at least 1978, particularly for old cars approaching scrapping under the 40-year underframe rule. Photos show a number of WP cars apparently surviving with roofwalks until the 1982 UP/WP/MP merger.