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 hold freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freightcar design, is probably the most general-purpose, since it can carry most loads. Boxcars have side doors of varying size and some have end doors to load very large items. 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. ... Cargo is a term used to denotes goods or produce being transported generally for commercial gain, usually on a ship, plane, train or lorry. ...

A DSS&A box car at the Mid Continent Railroad Museum in North Freedom, WI.

A boxcar in a train, August 8, 2004.

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 generalised design is still slower to load and unload than specialised 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. 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... North Freedom is a village located in Sauk County, Wisconsin. ... 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. ... August 8 is the 220th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (221st in leap years), with 145 days remaining. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A forklift that is extended halfway. ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb. ... Containers in the port of Kotka (Finland) on the Baltic Sea. ...

Even loose loads such as coal and ore can be carried in a boxcar, with boards over the side door openings. 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.

Livestock can be carried in a boxcar, but there is insufficient ventilation in warm weather. Specially built or converted stock cars are preferable. In railroad terminology, a stock car is one that is designed for carrying livestock. ...

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. A small variety of cars, the most popular kind of automobile. ... The 1960s, or The Sixties, in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... An autorack, also known as an auto carrier, is a specialized piece of railroad rolling stock used to transport unladen automobiles. ...

In recent years hicube boxcars - high cubic capacity - have become more common. These are higher than regular boxcars and can only run on routes with increased clearance.

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.

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, then the German occupiers, and finally the Allied liberators. In addition to soldiers, the Nazis infamously transported prisoners and Holocaust victims in overcrowded boxcars. 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. An act of war - the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan during World War II War is a state of widespread conflict between states, organisations, or relatively large groups of people, which is characterised by the use of violent, physical force between combatants or upon civilians. ... 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). ... World War II was a truly global conflict with many facets: immense human suffering, fierce indoctrinations, and the use of new, extremely devastating weapons like the atom bomb. ... 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). ... Concentration camp inmates during the Holocaust The Holocaust was Nazi Germanys systematic genocide (ethnic cleansing) of various ethnic, religious, national, and secular groups during World War II. Early elements include the Kristallnacht pogrom and the T-4 Euthanasia Program established by Hitler that killed some 200,000 people. ... 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, 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. A hobo is a member of a distinctive sub-culture (hoboism) of homeless, traveling workers in the United States. ... A foreign worker (cf expatriate), is a person who works in a country other than the one of which he or she is a citizen. ...