Autoracks then and now

[ShaunCN]

i know that they had open auto racks but ho wlong did they last? 1970 comes to mind but i'm not shure, was there ever a mix between open an enclosed autoracks? Also where autoracks frequently seen on each others railroads as they are now?

[RedGrey62]

I think the late 70's is when the enclosed autoracks really took hold, so yes there would have been a time when both open and closed would share the rails. The early enclosed autoracks did not have roofs and ends, just some sort of material on the sides to keep rocks from being thrown at the vehicles and such.

I believe autoracks were in captive service. That is, each railraod would assign autoracks to the various auto makers and plants. They would run from that plant to destinations on the owner's lines. It would be very common to see many autoracks from different RRs in the same train, especially near the auto plant.

The flat cars were owned by TTX (itself owned by numerous member RRs) but the racks themselves were owned by the individual RRs.

RedGrey62

[ericsp]

Some railroads do own some of the flatcars with autoracks on them. Southern Pacific, Cotton Belt, Santa Fe, Grand Trunk Western, Soo Line, and Canadian National come to mind, not that they owned all of the flatcars their autocarriers rode on.

[dknelson]

This is purely personal observation:

The progression was totally open auto racks, 1960s and I still saw some in the late 1970s
Then side panels or wire me***o try to prevent rock throwing vandals -- I think I saw those in the early 1970s and probably saw my last one in the mid to late 1990s
Then covered with a roof but with somewhat open ends - 1980s -- you do not see many of those left it seems
Now, very much enclosed --
Dave Nelson

[ShaunCN]

a simple search had soled this mystery... http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/cn70003.jpg