Active restorations–freight cars

By Aaron Isaacs, HRA editor

Above photo: Carson & Colorado boxcar #1C

There are more freight cars than any other kind of rail vehicle, but they’re usually a lower priority for museum restorations than locomotives and passenger cars. Wood cars are the most likely to be restored because they’re older, more deteriorated and are probably viewed as more historic. Wood car restorations often involve replacing plenty of rotted wood, but at least they don’t have furnished interiors to replicate, window glass and mechanisms to replace and antique air conditioning to wrestle with.

Steel cars were often acquired to be storage units for parts and archives, not artifacts. That particularly seems to be the case for rusty steel reefers. After being neglected for decades, museums are seeing the value of patching, scraping, painting and lettering their steel freight cars. Without a huge amount of effort, eyesores are converted to attractive displays. They may not haul passengers, but everyone appreciates a decent looking photo freight.

In the past couple of years, the Illinois Railway Museum, Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum, Age of Steam Roundhouse and Cass Scenic Railroad have campaigned steel car makeovers.

As usual, I’ve probably missed some, but I count 24 active freight car restorations. More than half of them are narrow gauge wood cars.