America’s Oldest Freight Cars
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- It’s likely most of us have seen a faded fallen flag on a passing train. Turns out, a lot of the cars still bearing those names are some of the oldest active railcars operating today. And there’s a reason for that.
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I've done repair work on a large number of freight cars built between 1975 and 1979. Most of them get scrapped even before reaching the age limit. Old freight cars become riddled with cracks that are labor-intensive to weld. The cars I worked on were hopper cars with the reporting mark AEX, mostly.
i am always surprised that so many of the BN grain hoppers continue on, for this reason.
And there it is:
AEX the acronym that I dread as much as IANR (or is it INR).
Those railcars were 50% sh and 45% it.
Darn near _every_ railcar I've had to unload down in southern Louisiana with that "name" had at least one faulty hopper door!!
The doors either required a come-along and a hydraulic door open to open/close them, or they doors would fall off (or simply didn't get closed!).
@@devernepersonal3636BNSF has so many grain hoppers still that it’s as if BN never left
Cool, thanks for the info
@@kleenexbox974 interesting. I live very close to a major BNSF depot. I watched the trains go back and forth in my backyard you can't help it they're so many everyday. Union Pacific also uses the tracks. You want to talk about old and run down holy cow! UP's cars are very very old and rusted. Not well maintained at all which is amazing considering they're government subsidized.
A few weeks ago, I saw some empty welded rail cars on the back of a CSX manifest, and these cars all dated to 1953, making them 71 years old and still going. Obviously, these have been converted for MOW use, but pretty much all of them still had their Chessie System and even faintly their C&O logos on them. Was very cool to see
You would be surprise to know who is own rail cars.Almost any one ,from city pension fund to union police org.They are paid à rate if load and another one if empty plus demerage standing too long on custumers track.
Keeping older cars in non interchange service helps quite a bit. Weirton steel rosters a fleet of boxcars built in the 60s, with some still lettered for Southern, Conrail, Penn Central and even one still lettered for the Pennsylvania Railroad.
I'm a conductor on a railroad that used to be part of the Rock Island. Out of total coincidence, a car we spotted was billed to go to scrapping once they unloaded it. Nice little circle of life that it's first and last loads were on home trackage.
Part of Rock Island. Do you happen to be a conductor on the IAIS class 2 railroad
@doubleutubefan5 No lol but that's a pretty cool operation! For what it's worth btw, most real railroaders (at least, ones that work for smaller companies) won't want to advertise where they work. There's a lot of sensitive information we're not allowed to talk about so it's best for us to keep it vague.
The CIA
@@zackbobby5550 Loose lips sink... locomotives
@gavinsimmonsmccullum4219 Haha 😄 Well, that can be sort of true. I know it sounds dramatic, but there are serious safety concerns with the information we have. I think the recent incident with the "railfan" derailing a train proved how dangerous certain knowledge can be. In my personal situation though I'm just a lot more worried about my real life being connected with my internet life and all my coworkers figuring out I'm actually a massive nerd! Lmao.
0:43 it's so old, even the graffiti is rusting.
I don’t think you have to worry about rule 88 that much, a lot of railroads or companies that own rollingstock in general tend to ignore it. I have found 62 year old 2 bay D&H hopper cars ex-pan am now still in use for CSX and NS still has a damn ex-NYC 40 foot boxcar still in use even with outlawed bearings.
Interesting, when and where did you see them?
I have seen some other examples that I didn’t put in this video, like some old Conrail 2 bay hoppers (I think at least one was ex PC) in an NS Chicago yard. And there are a handful of 40’ boxcars still out in service, but they’re a little more modern and I believe they don’t have the overhead walkways.
@@imatrainperson1195 I usually research old cars I see so I can info dump a bunch of old pieces of rollingstock I found while trackside no exceptions like MOW use if you wish, but I will only list the 2 mentioned previously:
D&H 205 and 213, dating back to the 1960s later going to the MEC and hauling logs for some reason. They are still in use on CSX after they acquired pan am.
I saw these 2 as a pair twice coupled up together in April and June 2024
The 40 footer is CR 60324, it's an exception because on further research it is an MOW tool car.
I saw it on a railcam and researched about it after it peaked my interest, nothing more to add on it.
@@Amtrak09 cool, thanks for your input. Those D&H cars must either have been given the 65 year approval or they really are just a violation.
Csx donated some old equipment from mec and b&m recently
@@RailPreserver2K huh, I didn’t know that that is interesting, what stock did they donate if you know?
Want to see extremely long shelf life on trains, come to Australia. We use 1970 designed trains as High Speed rail transport even today. Very common to see 30 to 40 year old stuff still being dragged around as rail infrastructure. We have freight cars on the rails that are pushing past 50 years old.
In Canada we still have 1940s and 50s built American passenger cars in regular revenue service in Ontario & Quebec. I'm sure the freight rules are similar to the states since our railroads connect with them a lot
hop like kangaroos, right, mate?
Fun fact: 1974 is also the year HUD was established, designating standards for mobile home construction. Anyone today wanting to move a mobile home or office manufactured before '74, will more than likely not be able get a CO.
Sigh... ok what's a CO, other than company, commanding officer, etcetera...
@@desertodavid Certificate of Occupancy. I was too lazy to spell it out. But actually I think I'm a bit off, even though HUD came about in '74, the cutoff year became 1976 in most jurisdictions.
That only applies to fixed commercial or industrial buildings. Also because mobile homes have VIN #'s and wheels and are towable they are classified as a recreational vehicle and registered with the DMV. So long as you have a permit to move the mobile home and it is able to move safely without collapsing on the roadway, you can put it anywhere you want. Guy in my city took two mobile homes for free and put them on a vacant lot with a single oak tree and 4 foot tall weeds and dirt he bought for $800. He has them titled as RV's and there is no law against parking an RV on your property. You can also find many mobile homes from the 1950's that have been restored.
I was a carman for UP for almost 9 years. I had an MOW rail train (flatcars with special racks for 400ft pieces of rail) that had the oldest car built in 1941, newest car was built in 1958. All were converted to roller bearings, had the old style AB service brake valves, and had compression fittings on all the brake pipes (illegal unless MOW). I’m sure that train is still running around today since it’s never separated. Last time i had to work on it i had to change out a wheelset with my wheeltruck because it had a thin flange wheel.
Wow old AB valves that pretty cool. I'm a trainman and in class I was told, "You won't see those around anymore". I have to say I've seen a lot more than I thought I would lol. Like you said that stuff sneaks around on equipment that gets ignored or doesn't get separated.
@@zackbobby5550, yup. Every now and then i’d come across an old MOW train that still had jack in the box wheelsets. After i was furloughed from freight i transferred to UP commuter (UP Metra) and worked on those cars for a little over 2 years. Some of those old Metra cars were from the 50s.
We had an old CNW 2 bay hopper car that was built in 1949. Full of locomotive sand. It sat in Waukegan yard forever, until it was finally scrapped... last AB inspection stencil on the car was from 1979!!! Dresser fittings, friction bearings, ect...
@@erict5234, one of my buddies was an carman MIC up in waukegan for UP until they shut down that point. He probably saw that hopper daily.
@@JLCmike4014 john or dennis?
Well done, thumbs up 👍 When I was with BNSF (Conductor) we spotted a lot of hopper car loads of used railroad ties at the tie grinding facilities around Superior, WI and those old MOW cars were the most beat-up that we saw still on the rails. Footsteps bent, hand brake wheels wobbly and bent, dents and creases in the sides and bottoms, rust everywhere, but they were still doing their jobs having loads of old ties roughly dropped into them and then seeing excavator clams digging out the old ties for unloading and adding even more dents before they went out again to start the process over again.
One of those trains where you start thinking, "Man if a manager says some shit that annoys me I could B/O every one of these fucking cars, and maybe a motor too!" 😅
I'm honestly surprised that the rule doesn't have a "Rebuild every 10 years after 40/50 year initial service life." clause to keep rolling stock forever rolling so long as the cost of rebuilding it is cheaper than buying new stock.
It always fills me with joy when I see one of those old Missouri Pacific railcars still on the main. The Mo-Pac will always be my favorite railroad.
Worked as clerk for B&O during 1970's. We were to be on the look-out for PRR four-pocket coal hoppers that were built in 1912. I found a few.
Wow. Those cars had a seriously hard, long life.
My dad hauled coal in WV in the 1980s and he recalls seeing old Virginian Railway coal cars and the huge battleship gondolas still being used, those were at least 1920s build
I saw a 1945-built BNSF wheel hauler just yesterday. They’ve got a good few of them. As a total rolling stock nerd, I encourage everyone to go learn about railcars. They’re far more interesting than you might expect. I call it “rebel railfanning”- rather than chasing the same heritage unit or whatever it is that everyone else is interested in, you’re finding your own fun, and seeing beauty in things other people would just ignore.
You’re absolutely right. I didn’t start looking deeper at railcars until about a year or two ago, and it’s a great display of yesterday’s railroading still at work.
Some of the oldest rolling stock is from the DM&IR. They ordered several thousand ore cars in the 40’s, and even survived through CN buying them. They were finally replaced last year. Almost every ore train had those old ore Jennies, and the DMIR logo was still visible on them.
I still see DM&IR to this day. One of my favorite places is the overhead bridge in downtown Altoona,PA. where you can see all types of "Fallen flags" on cars.
Altoona PA??
@@nssrrailfan6443 yes
I was going to comment that the some remaining old cars saw service behind 2-8-8-4 Yellowstones for reference to how old they are. DMIR did a great job rebuilding things so they would last the test of time
I worked at Buckeye Steel for a short time in the late 90's, and they had a flat car that was so old that it had an arch bar truck on one end. The other end had a Bettendorf friction bearing truck. It was only used in plant, and had no reporting marks.
We’ve hit the point where Norfolk Southern has largely gotten rid of its “Top Gon” fleet of coal cars. Last one I saw it was the only one within a string of 75 cars. I believe it’s build date was 98 and from what I’ve figured they are scraped at 30 years most of the 95 and earlier rebuild have all been scrapped.
My dad recalls vividly seeing Virginian Railway coal cars and battleship gondolas being used on N&W coal trains in the 1980s, probably the oldest he’s seen.
The oldest car I ever came across still rolling around was a NW boxcar built in 1947 in 1997 in Houston. Had to have been rebuilt at some point. It looked so strange in a long line of Golden West boxcars.
A new documentary is always great to see! MOW trains are a very nice way of catching some old pieces of RR history. CSX still runs cars with their MOW orange paint (now faded to a pinkish hue).
I never really paid much attention to the cars , just the locomotives.
You have just given me something new to obsess over.
The AAR is allowing some cars to undergo an inspection and life extension program for cars built after 1974. These rebuilt cars will be allowed to serve in interchange for 65 years instead of 50. So keep an eye out, some of these 1970's cars will be with us into the 2040's. 👀
I remember seeing a Penn Central hopper before
Still had the logo and everything, bright green.
4:43 Omaha Lincoln and Beatrice (Reporting Mark OLB) is a small switching short line located next to Lincoln Memorial Stadium in Lincoln Nebraska. Serving a sand mill a grain elevator and a couple others in Downtown lincoln Nebraska
If we’re talking about free cars, the oldest thing I saw was a CBQ coal hopper in MOW service built in like the 60s. In general, the oldest thing I ever saw was a 110-year-old passenger car now serving as a geo test car. The car was built by Pullman in 1914 as ATSF 1338, now BNSF 83.
4:07 love the Gran Turismo music, good touch!
Last wooden boxcar I saw in revenue service was a NP 40'er designated for hide loading service passing Columbus, OH in 1974. There was something special about wooden equipment. Some of the oldest worn cars would jingle on jointed track as loose bolt sets would rattle against metal framing as wheels moved from rail to rail.
I love recording manifest trains for just this reason! There are so many different types of rail cars, and so many different companies. It’s what makes it fun.
Oldest I’ve seen is A UP Boxcar (It was a 40 or 50’ or something). I caught it a few years ago on a manifest and commented to my friend that it probably went behind Big Boys and Challengers.
There is one singular tanker car here in Maine that has been sitting next to a warehouse since at least 1997. It was made back in 1958.
Very cool video. That clip at 3:43 was awesome with four ex CNW hoppers
There’s a flatbed from the Pennsylvania Railroad that occasionally shows up in Lansdale yard. It’s in spectacular condition and the original text is still legible
I remember taking a photograph of an old (ex L&N) CSX mow ex-steam tender in 1991, the build date had year built '94. It confused me for a minute.
Interesting subject... I am always amazed by how much old ATSF and BN paint I still see in ND/MT. But that's far from old compared to a lot of MOW and non-interchange rolling atock. While working on a civilian transportation contract for almost a decade, I recall looking at "Blt" dates on some of the early TOFC cars we had that were older than me (pre '67), including one that still had the original Trailer Train lettering and bridge plates. Then again, we had three Paducah-rebuilt geeps for motive power (albeit repainted), so it was like a museum in many ways.
I saw a few old UP autoracks with the RAVE doors (the sliding gate type doors before the clamshells we see on most racks today) Telling me these were made in the 80's.
ballin vid, nice knowing these old cars can still be around for a while, weather as mainline, or mow service
I once saw a Rock Island hopper in a CSX yard in Virginia
I know there are a few Former Norwood and St Lawrence Boxcars still in service that did date back to the 70's
I worked for National Railway Utilization Corp (The Owner of St Lawrence Railroad) in the ‘70s. Those cars were supposed to solve the nationwide boxcar shortage at the time. Then the recession hit and it all went bust. The company filed anti-trust litigation against Trailer Train and several class 1 railroads for boycotting its cars.
This is a fascinating subject. When I have to stop for a passing train, I always look at the engines but really don't pay attention to the cars too much. I will be paying more attention from now on, so thanks.
I’ve seen a car with a build date of ‘59 and ‘62 when I was taking Amtrak Capital Corridor, we stopped next to a bunch of older rolling stock on a siding, most of them were from the 80s though
When I worked for NS, we had some N&W cars from the 1950's that were marked for destruction that were being used for MOW duties.
Saw MKT once on a bnsf mixed freight... that was cool.
I saw some gondolas being used by CSX MOW dated October of 1953. It had an NYC reporting mark.
Years ago, I saw a Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo gondola on a UP freight in Salt Lake City. A couple more rarities seen years ago were Clinchfield and Reading hoppers on SP's Geneva Steel ore trains. More recently, it's been well weathered Soo Line, Missouri Pacific, and CNW hoppers, and assorted Southern Pacific boxcars.
Oldest car I saw was a wooden flatcar with friction bearing on a siding out by Goldbar Washington. Probably from the 40s. It was only used for track maintenance. A railfan buddy of mine would monitor BNSF's radio chatter. Apparently the last time it was used by a maintenance crew it tripped a sensor for a hotbox fire. The crew didn't have the correct kind of extinguisher present, so they just stuck the car back on its siding. About an hour later the panicked crew of a passing train called in a fire. It was the flatcar. The scorched frame of the car was still sitting on its track for at least a few weeks afterward
Nice video. Thank you. Brings back memories. When I was a kid, all the box cars had running boards the top.
I worked three summers in a shipping/receiving department after 1976 on a rail spur in a Florida swamp unloading cement, silica, and PVC powder from railroad cars. The PVC cars looked like the AOKX on the thumbnail.
We had a 40’ Santa Fe boxcar built in 1971. It’s on an industrial spur that’s no longer used. And in the last few years the switch was taken out.
2:58 The ACI label (Automatic Car Identification), "the railroad version of the bar code," was the original version of the bar code. It soon found its way onto merchandise. ACI was replaced by AEI (Automatic Equipment Identification), a type of RFID, which eventually found its way onto your credit cards.
I’ve Been Seeing Ex SP, CNW, MP, BN, and ATSF Rolling Stock.
When I worked KCS from 2010-2015, there was a gondola that had a build date 1954. It was on updated trucks, but was short and small. It must have been used in MOW services, but it looked old.
You know what I haven't seen in many years? A Great Northern rail car!
The CSX welded rail cars on a local track rebuild near me had build dates as far back as 1947. Many of these were riveted construction. Many had the poling pockets. A lot of them has them had the friction bearing truck frames converted to roller bearings. It was neat to see my Tyco model flat cars in the flesh.
I got some great photos I took about six years ago of a CNW flatcar with journal boxes and a build date of 1924. Had an ACI plate too, so was a mix of eras. Behind it was one of the last unpatched SP units. The flatcar was in MOW service of course.
A well researched and presented video. Thanks! ✌🏾🇨🇦
I saw some SCL/L&N Family Lines hoppers as buffer cars on a tank car train last week. It's a shame to think their days are actually numbered. Thanks for the info!
There used to be an old red caboose that was still used by the LiRR up until it was retired in the 90’s, I used to see it at a marshaling yard behind a stop n shop for years, it was sad because it was rotting away at that point and one day some 9 years ago it was gone.
In 1966 I worked for National Steel Car. They made rail cars for CN. I sometimes wonder if any of the box cars I helped build are still in use.🤔. Probably not.
I grew up in the 70's and 80's with fallen flags. Specifically MKT, Frisco, BN, MoPac, Cotton Belt, KCS, and Santa Fe. I really miss them. KCS is the only one that has survived into the present.
I always love being able to see the Southern Pacific freight cars on the main UP lines along with the Cotton Belt, Missouri Pacific's and Western Pacific's.
2:43 The Milwaukee road
3:36 The Milwaukee Road
Oldest I've seen was an ACL Gondola on a CSX MOW train, built 1937. That was about 2009, or so.
The oldest cars I saw were at the BNSF and CSX Conductor Schools when I went to both in 1998. They had wooden-floor flatcars with removable (loose) vertical stakes and horizontal brake handles, wooden boxcars, and my favorite, a short tank car made of riveted plates. Of course, all stayed empty, and if they were moved at all, it was for training purposes. I think the ones with plain wheel bearings never moved at all.
Anyone else remember how to kick or drop a car? I think that's now against all RRs' safety rules.
I saw an L&N 40ft boxcar.
That was a very great video. I learned a lot more of the railroad thank you back to my childhood. I’m 61 now and I remember all those train cars.
Very good research, and I will be forwarding this on to other model railroaders, who have never heard of a whale tanker.
I wonder when the last outside braced box car was taken out of service. I remember seeing a freight car with a build date of 1937, because that’s the year my dad was born, must have been late seventies , though.
25k views is excellent my man. I’m not too into trains myself but this caught my attention and it intrigued me. The thumbnail was simple and genius and the video was very interesting. 🎉
I have photos I took in 2010 of some old 1950's Union Pacific grain cars parked on a rail overpass.
It would be nice to see the railroads crack down on graffiti on the railcars so the old falling flag cars aren’t messed up.
I’ve seen a couple of old 1920ish cars in the middle of Oregon, closer to tillamook Oregon, pretty neat stuff
Nice, job, you have the story pretty much on point. One minor correction: extending the life of a car from 50 to 65 years is more than talk; this is actually an approved practice, now called Increased Life Service (ILS).
I've seen a steam era hopper in MoW service on the Stillwater Central, I think it was ex-CN
Train conductor here, oldest car ive seen is a 40s-50s PRR boxcar being used as a parts shelter, if were talking revenue service, i believe it was a gondola from the Penn Central era
The oldest I have personally seen is a Ex GN car built in 1953.
I work on the UK rail network and I've seen flat bed carriages carrying new sleepers with plates dated from the 50s
Saw a Southern Pacific Hydra Cushion boxcar at a customer of mine's recently. Probably the last of its breed 😢 it somehow survived the "Golden West Service" era at Espee without getting repainted!
Very informative and fascinating video, especially since I am planning my first scale train layout (HO scale - American stuff). * subscribed *
I know what I've seen as the oldest, a Local Powder company has a consist of 50s era Southern, and N&W grain hoppers, that they use to move their AMPHO around to the local Strip mines around my area.
Freight cars have very appealing liveries too when it comes to their railroad as well. The Boston and Maine Blue and White, The Yellow pops off of the Dark Blue off the Pere Marquette, The green black and white stripes on the Burlington Northern. There are a lot of good looking colors of the railroads rolling stock
had the fortunate luck of finding a faded green penn central hopper in the backwoods of MN sitting in a grain siding
Massachusetts Central has some crazy old boxcars in captive service
How can you tell the difference between old and new aside from paint status? It's hard to imagine that designs have changed very much over such a time period.
@@joewoodchuck3824 every car has the month and year they were built on it.
@@imatrainperson1195 I didn't know that.
I’ve seen an absolutely clapped out Gondola with B&O markings on it. I don’t think it’s around anymore since it had a bunch holes rusted in it and it more or less served as a dumpster.
My favorite line from the video is, “the infrastructure of the railroad has a shelflife too”
Lately, I have been exploring long, lost railroad infrastructure. Some of them, the rails are still intact, and other ones they are ripped up completely. Some of them still have bridges, tunnels, and other structures to explore. Truly amazing that some of these gargantuan railroads are now just relics.
The oldest one I've seen was an LNAC boxcar with the logo still showing through. I've also seen a 60ft boxcar with a DRGW rep mark with the flying grande logo still barely showing through.
Wooden box cars and cattle cars were common in the 50s when I was a kid.
3:31 Hey look it’s NYC Mohawk steam locomotive No.3001
I always look for old fallen flag cars, I have seen Western Pacific, Rio Grande, Rock Island, CNW and Seattle North Coast cars recently.
Cool video bro! Love catching older cars when I see them.
OUTSTANDING video. I too love the fallen flag cars. Very Interesting Topic. Great Job!!!
Fascinating video! Thank you!
Rule 88 is why I consider seeing a ‘fallen flag’ in a manifest train a very special occasion
On my line, I have seen old trash HIRX train cars. Same for boxcars and some coilcars.
I see a lot of examples of this, I always see conrail railcars.
RAHHHHHHHHHH IM SO GLAD SOMEONE ELSE HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT THIS. I actually keep a little tally of cool freight cars I’ve seen. So far my favorite was a Great North Western Boxcar… IN FLORIDA?
The oldest car I’ve ever seen in service was a 1918 flat car in NS MW service. I was dumbfounded.
In their MOW fleet, Norfolk Southern has an outside-braced Southern gondola dating back to 1938. Saw in a few months ago IRL in Latrobe, PA, and had been seen this year on the Virtual Railfan Horseshoe Curve camera. And there may be even older stock than that buried on an abandoned industrial spur somewhere else out there. Let everyone else chase HUs and locos; I prefer see 45-year-old Per Diem shortline boxcars any day of the week!
Interestingly, it's very hard to find a Southern Pacific or Santa Fe boxcar in its original livery. Even the Southern Pacific freight cars painted into the Golden West Service livery are rare finds in 2024. Many of the newer boxcars now have GATX or TTX reporting marks.
I saw a Penn Central Hopper car at Union Pacific’s yard in Provo, Utah last summer 😁
Very well done! Nice information!