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AAR identifies the common freight-car families below.

Boxcar

Enclosed car for packaged/manufactured freight.

Common:

  • paper,
  • food/beverage,
  • appliances,
  • packaged goods,
  • some lumber/products.

Consider:

  • door size,
  • interior dimensions,
  • load securement,
  • forklift access,
  • moisture sensitivity.

Covered hopper

Roofed car with bottom discharge.

Common:

  • grain,
  • plastic pellets,
  • fertilizer,
  • cement,
  • flour/minerals depending equipment.

Loading from top; unloaded through bottom gates/pneumatic systems depending commodity.

Open hopper

Open top, bottom discharge.

Common:

  • coal,
  • aggregate,
  • ore,
  • bulk materials that can tolerate exposure.

Gondola

Open-top car with solid floor/sides.

Common:

  • scrap,
  • steel coils,
  • plate,
  • aggregates,
  • industrial products.

Unloading can require crane, magnet, excavator or rotary/special methods depending design.

Flatcar

Open deck.

Common:

  • machinery,
  • steel,
  • vehicles/equipment,
  • dimensional loads.

Securement and clearance planning are critical.

Heavy-duty / depressed-center flatcar

Special equipment for transformers, turbines and heavy machinery.

Carrier engineering/clearance approval may be needed.

Centerbeam

Specialized flatcar with a center partition.

Common:

  • lumber,
  • wallboard,
  • building materials.

Loading balance on both sides is extremely important.

Tank car

Enclosed pressure/non-pressure tank built for liquids/gases.

Common:

  • chemicals,
  • fuels,
  • food products,
  • industrial liquids.

Tank-car design/specification depends on commodity and regulatory requirements.

Most tank cars are private/leased rather than railroad-owned.

Well car

Intermodal car with a lowered “well” to carry containers.

Often used in double-stack service where clearances allow.

Autorack

Multi-level enclosed/partially enclosed car for finished vehicles.

Common:

  • cars,
  • SUVs,
  • pickup trucks,
  • vans.

Refrigerated/special cars

Specialized railcars exist for temperature-sensitive and commodity-specific applications.

Availability varies.

Railcar dimensions are not universal

Two boxcars can have different:

  • length,
  • cubic capacity,
  • door,
  • load limit.

Two flatcars can have very different:

  • deck height,
  • weight capacity,
  • clearance profile.

Use the actual car series/specification.

Load limit

Look at:

  • light weight/tare,
  • load limit,
  • gross rail load,
  • route capability.

A car can be mechanically capable of a weight that the intended route/bridge/track cannot accept.

Bottom line

Choose the car by:

commodity + volume + weight + loading + unloading + route + securement

not simply by railcar name.

Related:

Not sure what car your freight needs?

Send the commodity, the weight, the dimensions and how it will be loaded and unloaded, and we will help narrow the equipment down.

Request a Freight Quote

Reference

  • AAR Freight Rail Operations 101: https://www.aar.org/operations-101/