The Freight Cars

The Association of American Railroads lists 11 basic classifications of freight cars and model railroaders like to have all of them on their layouts.  The looks, sizes, and shapes of freight cars are the direct result of the requirements of the products and materials being shipped; i.e.: shipping liquids required something different than shipping cattle and the railroad industry responded to the various and sundry needs of shippers.  Each of the 11 basic classifications also have many sub-classifications that represent changes required for a particular material or product that could not be accommodated with the basic design.  Model railroaders have the same types and styles of freight cars to choose from when constructing their layouts.

Flat Cars

These cars carry loads that are covered with tarps, tied down, or have upright rails to keep the product on the car.  They are used to carry large pieces of equipment, lumber, tractor/trailers, etc.

 Centerbeam Flat Car

The centerbeam flat car is used for moving loads from sawmills to small town lumberyards.  It features "Opera Window" cutouts for lightening the load.

 Piggy-Back Flat Car

The piggy-back flat car allows fully loaded trailers to be transported to a rail destination where the cargo is ultimately delivered by truck to its final destination.  This method saves considerable time by not having to load and unload the cargo multiple times.

Tank Cars

The tank car is generally characterized as a long cylinder on wheels, tank cars move bulk liquids over the rails.  Originally, the oil industry moved petroleum, then the food and chemical industries began using tank cars.  New, larger tanks cars evolved with special linings, unloading equipment, internal heating coils and insulation to meet the requirements for hauling other types of liquids.

 16,000 Gallon Tank Car

This size tank car is a favorite of the chemical and paper industries for carrying kaolin clay slurries to paper mills, fuel additives to refineries and food additives to processing plants.

Cabooses

For over 100 years, no freight train was complete without a caboose bringing up the rear.  To crews, they were known as way cars, vans, cabins, buggies, hacks, crummies and many other colorful nicknames.  On the road, they served as office, hotel, restaurant and observation post for the conductor and flagman.  The three basic types of cabooses are the Cupola, Bay Window and Center Window.

 Cupola Caboose

The "cupola" caboose put the crew viewing windows on top of the caboose.  Most Cupolas were centered, but some were offset.

 Bay Window Caboose

The "bay windows" of this caboose were very practical.  These windows literally allowed crew members to see what was going on along the side lengths of the train without sticking their head out when the weather was bad.

 Wide Vision Center Window Caboose

The cupola on this version, extends over the top of the caboose, and "extends" the vision
of the crew members.

Box Cars

Box cars are the weather-proof haulers of the freight train, with many names, variations and uses.  The following are some of the more common ones:

 Hi-Cube Box Car

These are extra-tall box cars designed to handle paper rolls 10' or more in diameter and other large items.

 50' Insulated Smoothside Box Car

They feature smooth side steel construction, underframe cushioning and a large, tight-fitting plug door.

 Thrall 56' All-Door Box Car

Lumber has always been difficult to ship by rail.  Box cars provide protection, but were hard to load and unload.  Flat cars eliminated those problems, but loads had to be tarped.  In 1967, Thrall created the All-Door Box Car with 4 large doors, providing a 25' wide opening for easy handling and the added benefit of protecting the load in transit.

 Pullman-Standard Double-Door 60' Box Car

A variation of the Pullman-Standard Box Car, two eight-foot wide doors was installed, which allowed plenty of clearance to move products in or out with a forklift.

 Pullman-Standard Single-Door 60' Box Car

This single door variation evolved into a smooth-side interior post car, where load restraints could be mounted. Heavy equipment and parts were carried in special baskets, designed for easy unloading/loading with forklifts.

Gondolas

Gondolas are open, sometimes low-sided cars which carry a wide range of heavy and unusual loads.  All steel construction has long been standard because of the rough service and constant exposure to the elements.  As a result, these cars survive many years of revenue service despite their beat-up appearance.

 Bethgon Gondola Car

These gondolas feature all-aluminum construction and a unique trough-style bottom for added carrying capacity.  Because there are no discharge chutes on the bottom, these cars are unloaded strictly by rotary dump.

Reefers

Reefer is a shorthand term for refrigerated car.

 Meat Reefer Car

The Meet Reefers were built to move meat from packing houses to big cities, the all-steel reefers are fitted with hooks and overhead rails that matched those used in slaughter houses and processing plants to facilitate loading and unloading.

Other Cars

 Auto Carrier Car

Over half of all new autos make their first long trip by train, riding in enclosed tri-level auto rack cars.  The third deck increases carrying capacity, usually 15 mid-size or 18 compact cars.

 Hopper Car

Hoppers are open or enclosed cars built for rough service and heavy hauling.  There are several types of hoppers distinguished by the number of bottom chutes, roof walks, brake piping or pneumatic piping and hatches.  All these cars are unloaded from the bottom, generally into storage bins.  The Open Aggregate, the Plastic Pellet, the Wood Chip, the Coal and the Covered are all hopper type cars.

 Well Car

Part of the new intermodal systems on railroads, these heavy duty stack cars feature three drawbar-connected platforms, each capable of handling 53' containers.  They have unique curved cutouts near the wheels and they are exceptionally long.

 Pulpwood Car

These cars haul logs between truck reloads in the forests and paper mills. 5' logs "shortwoods", are carried in the "V" shaped deck, which allows waste bark and water to fall through the floor.  Cranes or self-unloading trucks arrange the logs in two rows between the bulkheads.

 Cushion Coil Cars

Among the unusual loads moved by railroads are large steel coils used to make automobile bodies, appliances and other products.  Because of their size (6 ' 10' in diameter) and weights, coils are more easily shipped by rail than by truck.  Classified as both gondolas and flat cars, coil cars feature the "v" shaped cradle in place of the usual floor.  Adjustable retainers hold the coils in place and a cushion underframe helps prevent end-to-end load shifting.  Removable hoods protect the coils from the weather.