when did corrugated auto carriers come about?

ozzy

Active Member
when did they start showing up on the rails? and did the rock island really have any?
 

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jbaakko

Active Member
Fully Enclosed racks became the norm in the Mid-late 80's. Before that, roofless versions(70's), and even more before that, open racks (60's).
 

ozzy

Active Member
Fully Enclosed racks became the norm in the Mid-late 80's. Before that, roofless versions(70's), and even more before that, open racks (60's).

so the car in the pic would not of been seen in the rock island road name.....

The Rock Island entered its third and final bankruptcy in 1975, and despite the best efforts of management and trustee, and the flashy new blue and white "Rock" image, the company could not survive. The railroad was struck by its clerks in August, 1979, in a wage dispute. By order of the Interstate Commerce Commission, the Kansas City Terminal railway took over operations of the Rock Island, under an ICC "directed service" order. In early 1980, the bankruptcy court determined that the Rock Island could not be successfully reorganized and ordered the liquidation of the railroad, the largest such liquidation in U.S. history.
On March 31, 1980, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad operated its last train.
 

ozzy

Active Member
i know they did ship cars in box cars at one time but i dont know what years the RR's did that, i think there was 2 different types of box cars used.
 

nolatron

Member
Autorack - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the manner CN had developed in the 1950s, in the 1970s other North American railroads began refining their autorack cars. They began installing side sheathing to protect the vehicles from impact. Roofs were added to most autoracks in the 1980s, and end doors were added in the latter portion of the decade (both to prevent damage and to deter people from boarding the cars and riding the train within the vehicles loaded in them).
 

railohio

Active Member
As usual, that Wiki article doesn't explain very much.

Edit: Wow. Can't tell what I've been researching lately, can you? :eek:
 

radar

Member
rock covered auto racks

see the pic rock probably used it in pool service?
 

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ozzy

Active Member
see the pic rock probably used it in pool service?


wow, they did have them,!,,, im . i did not know one way or the other, as in 1980 i was only 2 years old...lol

i really like these cars, i have 3 ordered from mth, in other road name. now i will have to find the rock island ones.

its funny tho, my favorite paint scheme for rock island is the blue and white, but thats the colors they were running when they went bankrupt for the 3rd time and and the company came to an end.
 

jbaakko

Active Member
Yeah Rock had some. The dates I listed are a "all inclusive dates" when most of the fleet had it. The Rock cars got all the fixings with the new paint, ect, just before the last whim of the RR, I'd assume.
 

Triplex

Active Member
I'd certainly never seen such a car before. They probably got them not long before closing down. I wonder who got them after that? And are some still out there (presumably patched) in blue?
 
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