A Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway boxcar on display at the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, Wisconsin.

A boxcar (the American term; the British call this kind of car a "goods van") is a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry general freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is probably the most versatile, since it can carry most loads. Boxcars have side doors of varying size and operation, and some include end doors and adjustable bulkheads to load very large items. Boxcar can refer to: A boxcar, an enclosed railroad car for carrying general freight. ... Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railroad box car number 18052 on display at the Mid Continent Railroad Museum in North Freedom, WI. Photo by Sean Lamb (User:Slambo), October 10, 2004 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old... Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railroad box car number 18052 on display at the Mid Continent Railroad Museum in North Freedom, WI. Photo by Sean Lamb (User:Slambo), October 10, 2004 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old... The Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway (DSS & A) was an American railroad serving the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the Lake Superior shoreline of Wisconsin. ... The Mid-Continent Railway Museum is a heritage railway in North Freedom, Wisconsin. ... North Freedom is a village located in Sauk County, Wisconsin. ... A railroad car (or, more briefly, car, not to be confused with railcar), also known as an item of rolling stock, is a vehicle on a railroad (or railway) that is not a locomotive — one that provides another purpose than purely haulage, although some types of car are powered. ... Freight is a term used to classify the transportation of cargo and is typically a commercial process. ... A railroad car (or, more briefly, car), also known as an item of rolling stock in British parlance, is a vehicle on a railroad or railway that is not a locomotive - one that provides another purpose than purely haulage, although some types of car are powered. ... Bulkhead may refer to the following: Bulkhead (partition), a wall within the hull of a ship, vehicle or container Bulkhead (barrier) Bulkhead line See also: Flatcar Bulkhead Category: ...

Boxcars can carry most kinds of freight. Originally they were hand-loaded, but in more recent years mechanical assistance such as forklifts have been used to load and empty them faster. Their generalized design is still slower to load and unload than specialized designs of car, and this partially explains the decline in boxcar numbers since World War II. The other cause for this decline is the container. A container can be easily transshipped and is amenable to intermodal transportation, carryable by ships, trucks or trains, and can be delivered door-to-door. In many respects a container is a boxcar without the wheels and underframe. US airman operates forklift at a truck A forklift is a powered industrial truck used to hoist and transport materials by means of steel forks inserted under the load. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Shipping containers at a terminal in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey. ...

Even loose loads such as coal, grain and ore can be carried in a boxcar, with boards over the side door openings, at later times grain transport used metal reinforced cardboard which was nailed over the door and could be punctured by a grain auger for unloading. This was more common in earlier days; it was susceptible to losing much loading during the journey, and damaged the boxcar. It was also impossible to mechanically load and unload. Grain can also be transported in boxcars designed specifically for that purpose; specialized equipment and procedures are required to load and unload the cars [1]. Coal Coal (IPA: ) is a fossil fuel formed in swamp ecosystems where plant remains were saved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation. ... The word grain has several meanings, most being descriptive of a small piece or particle. ...

This 50-foot boxcar, in service on the Buckingham Branch Railroad outside of Dillwyn, Virginia, has had its roofwalk removed to comply with Federal safety standards.

Livestock can be transported in a boxcar (which was standard practice in the U.S. until the mid-1880s), but there is insufficient ventilation in warm weather. Specially-built or converted stock cars are preferable. Insulated boxcars are used for certain types of perishable loads that do not require the precise temperature control provided by a refrigerator car. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1016x723, 86 KB) Summary Photo by William Grimes Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1016x723, 86 KB) Summary Photo by William Grimes Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Buckingham Branch Railroad (AAR reporting marks BB) is a Class III short-line railroad operating over 200 miles (322 km) of historic and strategic trackage in Central Virginia. ... Dillwyn is a town located in Buckingham County, Virginia. ... Sheep are commonly bred as livestock. ... // Development and commercial production of electric lighting Development and commercial production of gasoline-powered automobile by Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and Maybach First commercial production and sales of phonographs and phonograph recordings. ... Missouri Pacific Lines all-wood stock car #52967, photographed at Pueblo, Colorado in March, 1937. ... Thermal insulation on the Huygens probe The term thermal insulation can refer to materials used to reduce the rate of heat transfer, or the methods and processes used to reduce heat transfer. ... A string of refrigerator cars owned by Pacific Fruit Express is mechanically-supplied with fresh ice at an Oxnard, California produce packing plant in the Spring of 1964. ...

Historically automobiles were carried in boxcars, but during the 1960s specially built autoracks took over; these carried more cars in the same space and were easier to load and unload. The automotive parts business, however, has always been a big user of the boxcar, and larger capacity cars evolved in the 1960s to meet the auto parts industry's needs. Special boxcars carry newsprint paper and other damage-sensitive cargo. “Car” and “Cars” redirect here. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... An autorack, also known as an auto carrier, is a specialized piece of railroad rolling stock used to transport unladen automobiles. ... Newsprint is low-cost, low-quality, non-archival paper. ... This article is about transported goods. ...

While not holding the dominant position in the world of railborne freight that they had before World War II, the boxcar still exists and is used in great numbers around the world.

Hicube boxcar

Helm Financial Corporation #60036, a double-door boxcar, passes through Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin on August 8, 2004.

In recent years "hicube" — "high cubic capacity" — boxcars have become more common. These are higher than regular boxcars and can only run on routes with increased clearance (see loading gauge and structure gauge). Download high resolution version (1024x768, 324 KB)Box car HLMX 60036 in a train at Prairie Du Chien, WI, August 8, 2004. ... Download high resolution version (1024x768, 324 KB)Box car HLMX 60036 in a train at Prairie Du Chien, WI, August 8, 2004. ... Sign seen in Prairie du Chien, WI on entering from Iowa. ... is the 220th day of the year (221st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A loading gauge is the envelope or contoured shape within which all railway vehicles, engines, coaches, and trucks must fit. ... The Structure gauge, also called the minimum clearance outline, is the minimum size of tunnels and bridges as well as the minimum size of the doors that allow a rail siding access into a warehouse. ...

Passenger and wartime use

The boxcar has been known to carry passengers, especially during war time. In both World Wars, French boxcars known as forty-and-eights were used as troop transports as well as for freight; in World War II by first the French forces, then the German forces, and finally the Allied forces. In addition to soldiers, the German Nazis transported prisoners in crowded boxcars. The same transportation was used by the Soviet Union forces during the 1930s and 1940s when over 1.5 million people were transferred to Siberia and other areas from different countries and areas incorporated into the Soviet Union. For other uses, see War (disambiguation). ... Forty-and-eights were French 4-wheel boxcars used as military transport cars (the term itself refers to the cars carrying capacity, said to be 40 men or eight horses). ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... The Nazi party used a right-facing swastika as their symbol and the red and black colors were said to represent Blut und Boden (blood and soil). ... Population transfer is a term referring to a policy by which a state, or international authority, forces the movement of a large group of people out of a region, most frequently on the basis of their ethnicity or religion. ... This article is about Siberia as a whole. ...

forty-and-eights style boxcar in the Army Transportation Museum.

The United States used troop sleepers to ferry U.S. soldiers through North America during World War II, which were both based upon boxcars and intended to be converted into boxcars after the war was over. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1484x1005, 287 KB) Photo by William J. Grimes of Forty-and-eights style boxcar @ the Fort Eustis Army Transportation Museum. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1484x1005, 287 KB) Photo by William J. Grimes of Forty-and-eights style boxcar @ the Fort Eustis Army Transportation Museum. ... Forty-and-eights were French 4-wheel boxcars used as military transport cars (the term itself refers to the cars carrying capacity, said to be 40 men or eight horses). ... In U.S. railroad terminology, a troop sleeper was a rail car which had been converted to serve as something of a mobile barracks for transporting troops distances sufficient to require overnight accomodations. ...

Hobos and migrant workers have often used boxcars in their journeys (see freighthopping), since they are enclosed and therefore they cannot be seen by railroad-employed security men ("Bulls") or police, as well as being to some degree insulated from cold weather. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Migrant farm worker, New York 2003 USPS stamp featuring Chávez and the fields that were so important to him A migrant worker is someone working on a regular basis away from their home, if indeed they have a home. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The French called the boxcars forty-and-eight because they could carry forty troops or eight horses.

Preservation

Many railroad museums have collections of boxcars.

One of the largest collections can be found at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum at Portola, CA. The museum rosters over 30 boxcars, including several rare or unusual styles. The oldest dates from 1917, while several are from the 1960s and '70s. Logos of the Western Pacific Railroad and the Feather River Rail Society, operators of the Western Pacific Railroad Museum. ...

See also

• Freight cars
• Railbox

A railroad car (or, more briefly, car, not to be confused with railcar), also known as an item of rolling stock, is a vehicle on a railroad (or railway) that is not a locomotive — one that provides another purpose than purely haulage, although some types of car are powered. ... Side view of a typical RailBox boxcar. ...

External links

• Akron, Canton and Youngstown Railroad #3024 — photo and short history of an example of an outside-braced wooden boxcar built by Mather Stock Car Company.
• Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway #276594 — photo and short history of an example of a typical modern (post-World War II) steel boxcar.
• Union Pacific Railroad #498769 — photo and short history of an example of a typical "billboard" boxcar.