And it isn't good. I have to wonder why boxcars have a 50 year service life. Seems like periodic inspections and repair could extend service life almost indefinitely.
6/21/15
"A shrinking supply of boxcars--once the ubiquitous symbols of U.S.
railroads and a rolling bellwether for the economy--is causing a
freight-hauling crunch for the industries that continue to use them.
The number of boxcars in service in North America fell by 41% in
the past decade to just under 125,000 last year as 101,600 cars were
scrapped and only about 13,800 replacement were added."
Maybe not quite this long:
Quite sure the chassis of some of those cars could be retrofitted with modern materials to make boxcars. Might be something a trailer company could look into.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. You are right on the retrofit possibilities. I just find what appears to be an arbitrary bureaucratic rule repugnant. With modern inspection methods there is absolutely no reason for the 50 year rule.
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