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Box Cars


lead photo copyright © Bob Hogan; used by permission.

Box cars are, of course, the most basic and critical car type for railroads. They allow the transportation of goods, protected from weather and from criminals. These were also called "house cars" (a term mostly used in the late 1800s and early 1900s as these were cars owned by the railroads directly). Box cars come in several configurations (e.g. number of doors), and some were built for a special use-case (e.g. transportation of automobile parts). Railroads use three types of box cars. These are non-insulated box cars, insulated box cars, and refrigerated box cars. In the modeling world, we tend to classify the latter as a "refrigerated car" or "reefer" for short; to keep our listing on this site organized, those are listed in their own category. As an interesting side note, box car interiors were never painted.

Below are links to the various reports that show all of the S-scale box cars ever produced. Click whichever report gets you to the information that wish to find. The bottom of this page has additional references that might be of interest.

Contact person: Webmaster

  1. By Model Manufacturer
    Entries are sorted by manufacturer, then by road name, and then by type of box car.
  2. By Model Manufacturer ID
    Entries are sorted by manufacturer, then by the product ID, and then by road name and road number. This report is handy if you know the manufacturer and the product ID.
    This report is limited to entries that have a known manufacturer ID set.
  3. By Road Name
    Entries are sorted by road name, then by model manufacturer, and then by type of box car.
  4. By Type
    Entries are sorted by the box car's type, then by road name, and then by model manufacturer on the final pages.
  5. By Gauge
    Entries are sorted by wheel gauge, then by manufacturer, and then by type of box car. The final pages have the entries sorted by the box cars' road names.
  6. By Model Introduction Year
    Entries are sorted by model year, then by manufacturer, and then by type of box car. The final pages have the entries sorted by the box cars' road names.
    This report is limited to entries for which the model introduction year is known.
  7. By Material
    Entries are sorted by the dominant material from which the model (especially its body) is made, then by manufacturer, and then by type of box car. The final pages have the entries sorted by the box cars' road names.
    This report is limited to entries for which the dominant material is known.
  8. By Photo
    A mini photo album of sorts, this report shows the primary photo for each entry. Click on a photo to see that model's details and possible additional photos. The photos are sorted by road name, road number, and then by manufacturer. This is a huge page, so it may take some time to load.
    This report is limited to entries that have at least one photo set.
  9. Missing Photos
    This report lists all of the entries for which we do not, yet, have a photo. If you have this model and can take a photo of it, please contact the webmaster.
  10. All Entries
    This report lists all entries in one page, and you can click on an entry to see its model information.
  11. All Entries (text only)
    Entries are sorted by model manufacturer, type, road name, road number, model year, and product ID, all on one page (no details, no photos). This is handy for when you just want a basic list of what has been produced.
  12. Downloadable Text File
    Entries are sorted by model manufacturer, manufacturer ID, road name, road number, type of box car, gauge, model year, product type, and finish. Note: To import or open this file in a spreadsheet software application, use the hat, ^, character as the column separator (see the "6" key of your keyboard). Most spreadsheet applications will let you pick the separator or delimiter; if not, open the file with a text editor and replace all "^" with a character of your choice, and then try it again.

Report Definitions

These definitions, in alphabetical order, may clarify some of the terms used in the reports linked-to above:

  • Finish
    Where the "|" (vertical bar) is used in the text, it indicates that the model was available in more than one finish, where each finish format is separated by the "|" symbol.
  • Gauge
    "AF": for models that come only with A.C. Gilbert-style or -compatible wheels and couplers.
    "S": for standard-gauge (4'8-1/2" rail-spacing) models that come with either no wheels and couplers, with scale wheels and/or couplers, or with "hi-rail" wheels and couplers but have scale wheels and couplers included in the box.
    "Sn3", "Sn2", "Sn42": for the various narrow-gauge rail spacings.
  • Prototype Height
    This is the interior height of the car, as marked on the car's data decal, which may not reflect the actual size of the scale model's height.
  • Prototype Volume
    This is the interior volume as marked on the car's data decal, which may not have a bearing on the scale model's interior volume.
  • Prototype Year
    If the real-world introduction year of a car is not known, then we indicate the year printed on the model, if shown. Note that the model's year number may indicate a built-new, rebuilt, or re-packaged date, whichever is later.
  • Road Name
    The railroad name (prototype, freelance, or fictional) for which the model was decorated by the factory, or, if undecorated, for which the model was specifically designed. If no road name is listed, then it is a generic model.
  • Road Number
    If the model was factory-decorated with a road number, it will be listed. If the model was released with more than one road number but otherwise is identical, then each road number is listed on the model's final page, but not listed as a separate entry. If the road number is shown with a series of question-marks, then that indicates that a road number was released but we don't know what it is. Each series of question-marks represents one unknown road number, thereby indicating the total number of unique road numbers with which we know the model was released.
  • Style
    The overall configuration of the box car. There are over 60 of them in our S-scale models!

Additional External References

Click the red header text for the external web site, listed here in alphabetical order; the sentence below it provides a high-level description of what you will find on that web page.

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