Going, Going, Gone part 2 − Boxcars

: CSX “boxcar” logo

The blog “Boxcar Red Collection” marked the 10th anniversary in February last year, before even I noticed it. Also is that many things are going or gone in this decade before I hardly noticed it. So, let me look back at what we’re missing or missed.
　
　
Though boxcars with large logos and/or colorful heralds became extinct long ago, they still survive as one of the symbols of American railroading: CSX introduced the “boxcar” logo in 2016.

However, unfortunately, we seem rather missed the boxcars. Freight today is largely shipped by hopper cars and tank cars. “It’s now a niche player”, Bill Stephens described the boxcar in the Nov. 2019 Trains magazine.

As of the time of writing, North American boxcar fleet size has declined nearly 40% since 2000. Also is that the number of the order for the new boxcar has declined: 155,050 boxcars were built new between 1971 and 1980, but only 21,662 boxcars were built new between 2001 and 2010[1].


: Bellevue, OH. Sep. 6, 2019
: El Paso, TX. Sep. 10, 2015
: Bellevue, OH. Sep. 6, 2019

Here, represented above is the, so to say, vanishing equipment I took during my holidays. The first photo shows boxcar red boxcars owned by US class I railroads found in an NS manifest: UP, KCS, and NS boxcars from left to right.

BKTY #155468, ex-Chattahoochee Industrial Railroad(CIRR) #1125 exx-Marinette, Tomahawk and Western Railroad(MTW) #1125 nee-Cadiz Railroad(CAD) #1125 was built in the late 70s by Food Machinery & Chemicals(FMC)[2]. "B" stood for Bankers Leasing Company as a lessor. It's owned by UP today: MP and UP purchased the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad in 1988, then UP resurrected the reporting mark BKTY in 1997.

KCS #172161 is genuine KCS equipment built in the 90s by Gunderson[3]. And, NS #412539 is former SOU #532023 built in 1981 by Pullman-Standard[4].

The second and third photos show boxcars owned by other US class I railroads:
BNSF #782579 is ex-BN, exx-C&S equipment built in 1965 at CB&Q Havelock Shops[5]. CSXT #124565 is a former SCL equipment built in 1971 by Pullman-Standard: ends and doors seems sometime rebuilt[6].

If we regard BKTY as UP, by these only three photos, we can cover all the United States-based class I freight railroads today. Notice that they are mostly quite old-timers.


In Japan, we saw the last revenue boxcar consist in 2012: no revenue boxcars are on the roster today. Some are sold, some are scraped, and some are stored ever since.

revised, Feb. 17, 2021

[1] Blaze, Jim, (2020) Fewer Freight Cars on the Horizon?, Feb. 12, 2020, Railway Age, Simmons-Boardman Publishing;
[2] 1979 photo of CAD #1135 at Fallen flags site;
[3] 2007 photo of KSC #172161 found at RRPictureArchives site;
[4] 2010 photo of SOU #532022 found at RRPictureArchives site;
[5] Spoor, Michel J., (1995) CB&Q Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment, Morning Sun Books
[6] 1975 photo of SCL #23547 found at Fallen flags site;

: Nov. 2019 Trains

: Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. Feb. 9, 1994
: Osaka, Japan. Feb 11, 1998.
: Chitose, Hokkaido. Aug. 28, 2018
　
　　
気が付いたら、このブログを始めてから10年以上経っている。記事を改めて見直すと、長いようで短い間にも色々と変化があることに気付く。そんな回顧を「Going, Going, Gone」というタイトルでまとめてみた。


様々なデザインのロゴマーク・ヘラルドを施したボックスカー（有蓋車）は、筆者の趣味の対象であるだけでなく、アメリカの鉄道を象徴するアイコンのひとつだといえよう。CSXのロゴマークは2016年から「Boxcar Logo」である。

しかし、かつては貨物輸送の主役であった有蓋車もコンテナ・トレーラーにその役目を譲って久しく、量的にもホッパー車やタンク車の陰にすっかり隠れてしまった。有蓋車はもはやニッチ市場向けのものらしい。

そんな消えつつある有蓋車をとらえた旅行中のスナップを紹介する。といっても三点しかなかった。それで、こんにち有蓋車を保有する米国のclass I Railroadsが網羅できるのだから、趣味的には寂しい限り。

最初の画像は、珍しく茶色いBoxcarを連ねたNSの列車で、左からUP、KCS、NSの有蓋車が写っている。BKTYというレポーティングマークはUPが1988年に買収したMissouri-Kansas-Texas Railroadのそれを1997年に復活させたもの。BKTY車は1970年代製、NS車は1981年製、とKCS車を除けばいずれも車齢40年を越える古参車両である。

テキサス州El Pasoの旧ATSF貨物駅に停まっていたBNSFの有蓋車は1965年に前身であるCB&Qが製造した保冷車。新断熱材の導入により薄側面を実現した、当時の革新的車両である。NSの列車に組み込まれていたCSXの有蓋車は1971年に前身であるSCLが導入した車両。妻板など改修されているようで外見上はあまり気にならないが、これらの車齢も結構高い。

日本では、ワムを連ねた車扱貨物列車は絶えて久しい。一時はよく見かけた「ダルマさん」も最近はあまり見ない。有蓋車の存亡に関しては日本が先行しているようだ。