Boxcar
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(February 2016) |
Aboxcaris theNorth American(AAR) andSouth Australian Railwaysterm for arailroad carthat is enclosed and generally used to carryfreight.The boxcar, while not the simplestfreight cardesign, is considered one of the most versatile since it can carry most loads. Boxcars have sidesliding doorsof varying size and operation, and some include end doors and adjustablebulkheadsto load very large items.
Similar covered freight cars outside North America arecovered goods wagonsand, depending on the region, are calledgoods van(UKandAustralia),covered wagon(UICand UK) or simplyvan(UIC, UK and Australia).[a]
Use
[edit]
Boxcars can carry most kinds of freight. Originally they were hand-loaded, but in more recent years mechanical assistance such asforkliftshave been used to load and empty them faster. Their generalized design is still slower to load and unload than specialized designs of car, and this partially explains the decline in boxcar numbers sinceWorld War II.The other cause for this decline is the dramatic shift of waterbornecargotransport tocontainershipping. Effectively a boxcar without the wheels andchassis,a container is designed to be amenable tointermodal freight transport,whether bycontainer ships,trucksorflatcars,and can be delivered door-to-door.
Boxcars were used for bulk commodities such ascoal,particularly in theMidwestern United Statesin the early 20th century. This use was sufficiently widespread that several companies developed competing box-car loaders to automate coal loading. By 1905, 350 to 400 such machines were in use, mostly at Midwestern coal mines.[2]
Passenger use
[edit]In thePhilippines,Boxcars were used as additional third-class accommodations by theManila Railway Companyduring the early 1900s as there was a shortage of truepassenger railroad cars.[3]These problems were considered solved by the 1910s as British manufacturerMetropolitanand American builders such asHarlan and Hollingsworthconstructed more passenger cars for the railroad.[4]
In the present day,hobosandmigrant workershave often used boxcars in their journeys (seefreighthopping), since they are enclosed and cannot be seen byrailroad police,as well as being to some degree insulated from cold weather.[5]Hobo Code,a form of hieroglyphs used by hobos, developed as a code to give information to Hobos freighthopping.[6]
Hicube boxcar
[edit]In the 21st century, high cubic capacity (hicube) boxcars have become more common in the US. These are taller than regular boxcars and as such can only run on routes with increased clearance (seeloading gaugeandstructure gauge). The excess height section of the car end is often painted with a white band to be easily visible if wrongly assigned to a low-clearance line.[7]
The internal height of the 86-foot (26.21 m) hicube boxcars originally used in automotive parts service was generally 12 feet 9 inches (3.89 m).[8]
See also
[edit]- Autorack– Railway rolling stock used to transport automobiles
- General Utility Van– Enclosed railway wagon used by British Rail to carry mail and parcels
- Railbox– American owner of boxcars
- Refrigerator car– Railroad car designed to carry perishable freight at specific temperatures
- Stock car
- Troop sleeper– Type of military railroad passenger car
Notes
[edit]- ^An exception in Australia was the formerSouth Australian Railways,which adopted US practices and terminologies; it used the term "boxcar".[1]: 1‑129
References
[edit]- ^McAuliffe, Des (1999). "The Snowtown to Port Pirie line".Proceedings of the 1999 Convention.Modelling the Railways of South Australia. Adelaide.
- ^Affelder, William L. (March 1905)."Box-Car Loaders".Mines and Minerals.XXV(8): 372–377.RetrievedMay 11,2018.
- ^"Rolling stock of the Manila Railroad Co. 1904".Railroad Gazette.35(48). 1903.
- ^Report of the General Manager for the Year Ended December 31, 1938.Reports of the General Manager(Report). Manila Railroad Company. March 17, 1939.
- ^"Train Hopping: Why Do Hobos Risk Their Lives to Ride the Rails?".BBC News.December 19, 2012.RetrievedJune 25,2022.
- ^Berendsohn, Roy (November 17, 2020)."Those Hobo Hieroglyphs That Appeared on Posts and Bridge Abutments Relayed Important Messages".Popular Mechanics.RetrievedJune 25,2022.
- ^"60 ft Hicube Boxcar"(PDF).GBRX.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on November 14, 2012.RetrievedJune 6,2011.
- ^Chatfield, D. Scott (January 1994). "Athearn HO Scale and Arnold N Scale 86-foot Box Cars".Railmodel Journal.5(8). Denver, Colorado: Golden Bell Press: 32–39.