50' DOUBLE-DOOR BOXCARS
The automobile was the primary motivation for the development of fifty-foot boxcars as their weight was far below the capacity of a boxcar. While double doors were necessary for loading automobiles, they also eased the loading of other bulky cargos such as lumber or furniture. Like their forty-foot counterparts, fifty-foot boxcars were designated according to the equipment they carried as follows:
XR (Formerly XAR)- A boxcar with side doors at least ten feet wide, and equpipped with permanent automobile stowing equipment. It may be with or without end doors, and is usually marked “Automobile”. A car that could also be used for general service was formerly designated as type “XMR”.
XF- A boxcar with an interior coating to prevent contamination of processed foods.
XL (Formerly XML)- A boxcar equipped with loader devices, consisting of perforated side rails, crossbars or bulkheads.
XM- A boxcar suitable for general service.
XP (Formerly XMP)- A boxcar specially equipped for a specific commodity, and not suitable for general service. The commodity is usually noted in the Equipment Register. Boxcars equipped with permanent racks for stowing automobile parts were formerly designated “XAP”.
The rise of fifty-foot boxcars coincided with the dieselization of America’s railroads, which made it possible to run much longer trains. While this saved the railroads money, it also increased freight damage due to slack action. Because of this, many of the new boxcars of the time were equipped with various loading devices designed to secure loads from moving. When these devices were new, they were often advertised on the car sides, which can be found on many of our models. These devices were expensive and complicated, and have been largely replaced by inflatable cushions.
The chart below lists fifty-foot double-door boxcars by type on the New York Central Railroad between 1947 and 1966. It is interesting to note the amount of boxcars that were dedicated to the automotive industry, both for the transport of parts and whole automobiles. The shipment of automobiles in boxcars ended with the adoption of the auto rack, making type XR boxcars obsolete. Though auto parts continued to be an important source of revenue, they were increasingly being transported by longer and higher boxcars.
PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD X32 ROUND ROOF BOXCARS
MICRO-TRAINS and FINE N-SCALE
The standard inside height for boxcars was nine feet, four inches in the early thirties. The Pennsylvania Railroad felt a need for higher capacity boxcars, particularly for automobile service. They developed the X32 boxcars with an interior height of ten feet and rounded edges at the roof to reduce clearance problems. The X32 cars were constructed with both 12’ doors and 14’6” doors. In addition, some round-roof boxcars were built with end doors and designated X33.
The Micro-Trains model features 14’6” doors, while Fine N-scale offers a cast resin kit of a car with 12’ doors. The Tennessee, Alabama & Georgia model (Micro-Trains 79060) represents a car with 12’5” doors; they were presumably acquired from the Seaboard, whose cars had 12’6” doors. The chart below lists the roads that originally owned X32 boxcars, as well as the short lines that picked them up second hand in later years. An asterisk next to a number indicates that some of the cars were equipped for hauling automobiles.
