|
BC Rail Freight Car Roster and Pictorial by Duane Karam Jr Freight Cars Journal
BC Rail Freight Car Roster and Pictorial by Duane Karam JR
Freight Cars Journal Monograph #7
Soft Cover Stapled
28 pages
Copyright 1992
CONTENTS
An Introduction to BC Rail's Freight Cars 3
Color Pictorial 7
A Roster of BCIT and BCOL Freight Cars23
INTRODUCTION
BC Rail's freight car fleet is a freightcarologist's delight. It's large enough to provide sufficient diversity and yet small enough to not overwhelm one's interest. The BCR primarily serves a huge wood products industry (e.g. lumber, pulp, chip, paper, etc.). Thus, the freight car fleet reflects this industry. Indeed the largest types of cars present in the fleet are box and flat cars.
LUMBER FLATS
Nearly one-half of BCR's freight car fleet consists of various types of lumber flat cars, thus making this type the most numerous. Literally 95% of the lumber flats are of the bulkhead type. Many of these were built as or are being converted to "center divider" cars ( new AAR mechanical designation: FBC). BCR's lumber flats range from the 52'8" bulkhead flats to the huge 73'0" center divider cars.
In recent years, the BCR has been trying new ideas for transporting packaged lumber products. Many of the 52'8", 55'0" and more recently 66'0" bulkhead cars have been converted by the BCR's home shops into indigenous center divider cars. One recent conversion (BCOL 60000 ) was a covered center divider car with tarps mounted along the top rail of the center divider that roll down over the load to provide increased protection from the elements.
BOX CARS
The mainstay of the current fleet is the 50-foot ( and derivatives) unequipped box car. In fact, there are no AAR XL ( loader equipped) box cars in the fleet. All cars are either XM (general-service) or XP (specific products). Fifty-foot box cars account for just over one-third of the entire fleet. Further, with the exception of one series leased from Itel (BCIT 800650-800849 ), all of the fifty-foot box cars are Plate C (the smaller Plate B being the standard size for box cars until the Seventies ).
There are a variety of door configurations ranging from single 9-foot plug doors to double 8-foot sliding doors. There are series with combination plug and sliding doors and even one series with a single 12-foot sliding door (BCIT 800650-800849).
Relatively few forty-foot box cars remain on the fleet (including a few insulated, heated boxes). I would imagine that most of these aren't being used very often and by the mid-Nineties they'll probably all be gone.
WOOD CHIP CARS
The third largest type ( about one-tenth of the fleet) are the wood chip cars. All of these are high-sided gondola cars (AAR:GTS). Most are modern purpose-designed cars with about 6400 to 6660 cubic feet capacity per unit.
OTHER FREIGHT CARS
The BCR freight car fleet is not without the other "usual" types of cars; they're just less numerous. For instance, covered hoppers for grain and pressure unloading cars for cement are present. There are log cars ( nearly 300) and several hundred mill gondolas. At one point there were over 400 RBL refrigerator cars and even a few mechanical reefers.
All pictures are of the actual item. There may be reflection from the lights in some photos. We try to take photos of any damage. If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad. Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us.
Shipping charges
US Shipments: When you add multiple items to your cart, the reduced shipping charges will automatically be calculated. For direct postage rates to other countries, send me an email. Shipping varies by weight.
Terms and conditions
All sales are final. Returns accepted if item is not as described. Contact us before making a return. No warranty is stated or implied. Please e-mail us with any questions before bidding or buying.
Thanks for looking at our items.
| 
