1
1: A McCloud River
Railroad boxcar
shows the com-
pany's white and
brown scheme,
well-faded in this
case.
'Stottman'
photo.
shippers after deregulation allowed railroads more latitude
in setting fees. To achieve the full enclosure but still have
the whole length of of the car accessible, they had a massive
beam/roof structure to hold up not only the roof, but support
the doors as well (the doors hung from the roof since there
was no side wall).
“The beefier structure added so much extra weight that the cars
were expensive for the railroads to handle. Before deregulation,
the roads were constrained to the official fee schedule and could
not recoup the extra cost. After deregulation, the fees charged
to move these cars shot up to reflect the actual cost and most
shippers decided that was too much.”
Railroad researchers can find photos at:
and many more photos of MR box cars are at:
.
– MRH
