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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.

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.

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. Grain can also be transported in boxcars designed specifically for that purpose; specialized equipment and procedures are required to load and unload the cars .

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.

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.

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

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).

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.

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.

The Fairchild C-119 was a U.S. military transport aircraft designed to carry cargo, personnel, litter patients, and mechanized equipment, and to drop cargo and troops by parachute. The plane's cargo-hauling ability earned it the nickname "Flying Boxcar."

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 1960's and 70's.

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.

• Freight equipment