RAIL INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

Rail Equipment

In this section we look at the freight railcar types in use today and identify some of the types of material each carries.  We also look at how to identify cars by their markings.

Railcar Classifications

There are eight primary different railcar classifications; each is used for different types of material loading.  We manage shipments in almost all the classifications shown below, and our team understands what each of them is designed to haul.

Box Cars

Box cars can be used to haul many different things, from food, to paper, to auto parts. They come in many different sizes, from 40 to 86 feet and were once the most common freight car.

Flat Cars

Flat cars can be used for many different things from hauling truck trailers, to army tanks, to logs and poles. There are many different types of flat cars. Bulkhead flats have a bulkhead at each end. Some flat cars are specially designed to carry very heavy loads and may have recessed or dropped-deck centers, or as many as 16 axles.

Refrigerated Cars

Flat cars can be used for many different things from hauling truck trailers, to army tanks, to logs and poles. There are many different types of flat cars. Bulkhead flats have a bulkhead at each end. Some flat cars are specially designed to carry very heavy loads and may have recessed or dropped-deck centers, or as many as 16 axles.

Gondola Cars

Gondola cars can also be used for a variety of things. In railroad Maintenance of Way service, they are used to transport discarded tie plates, cross ties, and even sections of pre-built track. In revenue service, they are used to haul scrap metal and large, thick sheets of steel.

Covered Hopper Cars

Covered Hopper cars are used to carry grain, sand, plastic pellets, and other things that cannot get wet. They have round hatches at the top for loading and large hopper doors underneath for unloading. Most covered hopper cars are custom built and equipped to carry specific commodities.

Open Hopper Cars

Open Hoppers (open tops) are used to haul wood chips, coal, ballast, or other types of rock. In Maintenance of Way service, hoppers carry ballast. In revenue service, they usually haul coal. Hoppers can differ in the number of bays they have. Small ones have 2 bays; large hoppers have 4 to 6 bays. Modern hopper cars don’t have hopper doors for unloading; they are simply rotated upside-down to dump.

Tank Cars

Tank cars can come in many different sizes and carry many different things from corrosives to lighter than air gasses. Small tank cars have capacities of a few thousand gallons. Large tank cars can carry very heavy loads and can have 8 or more axles. Tank cars for lighter than air gasses, such as helium, can have a loaded weight less than their tare weight. Tank cars are specialized equipment for the shipment of bulk liquids. Cars are supplied with various linings, loading and unloading fittings, safety appliances, and other characteristics as dictated by regulations.

Well Cars

A well car, also known as a double-stack car or stack car (also well wagon), is a type of railroad car specially designed to carry intermodal containers (shipping containers) used in intermodal freight transport. The “well” is a depressed section which sits close to the rails between the wheel trucks of the car, allowing a container to be carried lower than on a traditional flatcar.

Other types of cars