The Most Significant Santa Fe Freight Car Classes In 1950

By Richard H. Hendrickson

Transcribed for the web by Rick Duncan

ATSF Box Cars

Class(es) Description Date No.
in Svc.		 Model
?
Bx-3, 6 40' comp., sectional wd. sh., stl. ends/drs 1923-25 2,000 Westerfield Bx-3
Bx-11-13 40' ARA comp. sngl. sh., stl. roof/ends/drs. 1929-31 2,200 Westerfield Bx-11
Westerfield Bx-13
Bx-11, 12 40' ARA comp. sngl. sh., rblt. w/ext. rfs. 1942-44 3,200 Westerfield Bx-12
Bx-26 40' 1932 AAR stl. sh, Duryea u/f 1936 500  
Bx-27 40' 1937 AAR stl. sh, Duryea u/f 1937 2,000 Red Caboose (m)
Bx-28, 31-33, 36 (ex Bx-2) Reblt. w. stl. bodies, USRA u/fs 1938-42 2,600 Sunshine
Bx-34 40' 1941 AAR stl. sh, Duryea u/f 1940 1,800  
Bx-35 (ex Fe-U) 50' comp. sngl. sh., stl. roof/ends/drs., dbl. drs. 1930 500  
Bx-37, 43 40' AAR stl. sh., stl. roof/ends/drs. 1941, 44 5,300 InterMountain
Bx-38 40' AAR War Emergency, comp. body 1944 300 Sunshine
Bx-39 50' AAR War Emergency, comp. body 1944 400 Sunshine
Bx-40 (ex-Fe-R) 50' stl. sh., stl. rf./ends/drs. 1942 500 Life-Like P2K (kb)
Bx-41, 42, 45, 46 (ex-Bx-8, 9, 10) stl. sh., ARA u/f 1945-47 1,950 InterMountain (kb)
Bx-44 40' postwar AAR stl. sh., impr. ends/drs. 1945 500 Branchline (m)
Bx-48, 50, 51, 53 40' postwar AAR, 12p. sides, impr. ends/drs. 1946-50 4,750 C&BT Shops (m)
Bx-49 (ex-Bx-9, 10) stl. sh., ARA u/f, impr. ends 1947 900 Sunshine
Bx-52, 57 40' PS-1 welded stl. box car 1947-50 750 InterMountain, KD
Bx-56, 59 (ex-Fe-P) 50' comp. sect. sh. single door 1950 500  

Auto Cars

Class(es) Description Date No.
in Svc.		 Model
?
Fe-5, 12, 15, 19 (ex-Fe-L,N,O) 40' stl.sh., sd. roof/ends/drs. 1936-39 1,000 Sunshine
Fe-6-11, 13-14, 16-18, 20 (ex-Fe-K,M) 50' stl. sh., stl. rf./ends/drs. 1936-40 1,300 Life-Like P2K (kb)
Fe-21, 22, 23 (ex-Fe-S) 50' stl. sh., stl. rf./ends/drs., end drs. 1940 450 Life-Like P2K (kb)
Fe-24 50' 1942 AAR stl., dbl. drs (200 pass. equip.) 1942 500 Life-Like P2K
Fe-25 (ex-Fe-R) rblt., stl. sh., stl. rf./ends/drs. 1942 500 Life-Like P2K (kb)
Fe-26 40' 1941 AAR stl., dbl. drs. 1945 500 Sunshine
Fe-27 50' postwar AAR stl., impr. ends, drs, rf 1948 500 Branchline

Flat Cars

Class(es) Description Date No.
in Svc.		 Model
?
Ft-G 40' f/b side sills 1905-06 150 Athearn (kb)
Ft-I, J 44' inset f/b side sills 1910-13 350 Sunshine
Ft-L, N Rblt. 53' inset f/b side sills & end blkhds. (wallboard) 1915-24 450  
Ft-M 44' f/b side sills 1924 475 Athearn (kb)
Ft-O, P 50' inset f/b side sills 1929-30 350  
Ft-T, U 60' f/b side sills 1940-41 200  
Ft-V 53' 70T AAR war emergency f/b side sills 1944 200 Sunshine

Gondola Cars

Ballast Hopper

Class(es) Description Date No.
in Svc.		 Model
?
Ga- 15, 16, 18, 27 Rodger-Hart and Enterprise steel 1927-30 400  
Ga-50, 56, 59, 64, 74 44' 70T Hart convertible steel hopper 1940-49 1,200 W&R Enterprises

General Service

Class(es) Description Date No.
in Svc.		 Model
?
Ga-O, R, X, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9-12, 14 40' comp. body, Caswell drop drs. 1906-27   Westerfield
Ga-17, 22, 25 40' comp. body, Wine drop drs. 1928-30    
Ga-20, 26 40' comp. body, Wine drop drs., drop ends 1929-30 450  

Mill Gondola

Class(es) Description Date No.
in Svc.		 Model
?
Ga-6, 8 48' 50 T comp. body, f/b u/f, drop ends 1921-24 500 Sunshine
Ga-46 53' cast st. u/f, panel sides, drop drs. and ends 1937 300  
Ga-47, 48, 55, 70, 76 65' 70T stl., f/b u/f & sides, drop ends 1937-49 525 Eastern Car works (m)
Ga-49, 53 48' 70T stl. body, f/b u/f, drop ends 1940-41 600 Sunshine
Ga-61,63 52' 70T war emergency comp., drop ends 1943-44 400 Sunshine
Ga-68, 69, 87 52' 70T stl. body, f/b u/f & sides, drop ends 1948-49 1,500  

Sulphur Gondola

Class(es) Description Date No.
in Svc.		 Model
?
Ga- 13,19 40' comp. body, cast sd. u/f & body frame 1927-29 300 Pecos River

Hopper

Class(es) Description Date No.
in Svc.		 Model
?
Ga-21, 24,43 70T all steel triple & quad hoppers 1929, 36 150  
Ga-54 50T all steel twin hopper 1941 200 Athearn & Atlas (m)
Ga-60, 62 50T war emergency comp. hopper 1943-44 400 Athearn (m)
Ga-66, 73, 77 70T all steel AAR triple hopper 1948-49 900 ST

Covered Hopper

Class(es) Description Date No.
in Svc.		 Model
?
Ga-45, 52 ,58, 65, 75 70T AC&F two-bay covered hopper 1936-50 900 Kato, Bowser, Pecos River

Air Dump

Class(es) Description Date No.
in Svc.		 Model
?
Ga-36-42 Western, Clark, and Magor 20 and 30 yd. 1910-28 400 W & R

Tie

Class(es) Description Date No.
in Svc.		 Model
?
Ga-Z Santa Fe-designed steel framed tie cars 1916 400  

Ice

Class(es) Description Date No.
in Svc.		 Model
?
Frmr Rr-G-P Rblt. 36' ex-box cars, wd. sh., f/b side sills 1946 300 Westerfield

Refrigerator

Class(es) Description Date No.
in Svc.		 Model
?
Rr-5, 11 ARA comp. body, stl. u/f 1926-30 2,250 Sunshine
Rr-10, 17, 22, 26, 30, 31, 37, 42 50' composite and all steel, Duryea u/f 1936-49 450 Overland
Rr-19, 23, 25, 27, 28, 32-36, 39, 40, 43, 45-49 Reblt., st. sh. body, USRA u/f 1936-49 9,800 InterMountain, C&BT Shops (m)
Rr-21, 29 Stl. sh. body, Duryea u/f 1937, 40 800 Sunshine
Rr-44 Stl. sh. body, AAR u/f 1946 350 Branchline (m)
Rr-47 Stl. sh. body, AAR u/f 1949 250  
Rr-49 (ex-Rr-5) stl. sh. body, AAR u/f 1950 500  

Stock

Class(es) Description Date No.
in Svc.		 Model
?
Sk-H, K, L, N 40' sngl. dk., orig. Caswell conv. (some rblt.) 1906-17 1,200  
Sk-M, O 40' dbl. dr. comp. body 1916-23 975  
Sk-Q, S 40' dbl. dk. comp. body, Penna. Car Co. 1928-30 500 Pecos River
Sk-R, T, U 40' sngl. dk., comp. body, Penna. Car Co. 1928-30 1,300 Pecos River
Sk-Z, 4 (ex-Fe-P) 40' dbl. dk., comp. body 1941-50 400  
Sk-2, 3 (ex-Bx-3, 6) 40' sngl. dk., comp. body 1942, 47 1,850 Westerfield

Tank Cars

Class(es) Description Date No.
in Svc.		 Model
?
Tk-C-F 9,500 gal., AC&F f/b u/f 1901-04 500  
Tk-G-J 10,500 gal., AC&F f/b u/f 1906-14 1,800 Pecos River
Tk-K 12,000 gal., PSC 1915 500 Pecos River
Tk-L 16,000 gal., cast stl. u/f & tank bottom 1930 100  
Tk-M 16,000 gal., GATC 1942 200 Pecos River
Tk-N 16,000 gal., GATC, welded tank 1949 250 Precision Scale

All Types Total: 71,375

Notes: Though the heavy traffic demands of World War II postponed the retirement or rebuilding of many obsolete wood and composite freight cars, these older cars disappeared rapidly as soon as the war ended, and rebuilding projects resumed on a large scale. By 1950, all of the late-20s ARA wood sheathed box cars had been rebuilt with AAR-design steel bodies and the remaining USRA wood reefers had been also rebuilt, along with all of the Rr-5 class ARA composite reefers. Some Bx-3/-6 sectional-sheathed composite box cars remained in revenue service, but many had been retired or rebuilt into stock cars. Many new all-steel cars also began to arrive beginning in 1945, and in the late 1940s the Santa Fe augmented the efforts of the commercial car builders by building some new equipment in its own car shops. Covered hoppers, transverse hopper cars, 65' mill gondolas, and bulkhead flat cars appeared in the 1950 roster in sizable numbers, and Hart convertible ballast hoppers had replaced almost all of the old wood ballast cars.

Car Descriptions

AAR - Association of American Railroads
AC&F - American Car & Foundry
ARA - American Railway Association
comp. - composite construction' steel framing with wood sheathing.
conv. - convertible
corr.-side - corrugated side sheathing
ctr. sills - center sills
drs. - doors
dbl. dk. - double deck
dbl. drs. - double doors
f/b - fishbelly
GATC - General American Transportation Corp.
GSC - General Steel Castings
impr. - improved (i.e., post-WWII design)
orig. - original, originally
pass. equipt. - equipped for passenger train service
PSC - Pressed Steel Car Co.
rfr. - refrigerator car
reblt. - rebuilt
sngl. dk. - single deck
sngl. sh. - single sheathed
stl. - steel
12P - twelve panel
u/f - underframe
USRA - United States Railway Administration
wd. - wood
wd. sh. - wood sheathed

Model Manufacturers

A - Athearn
AT - Atlas
BL - Branchline
BW - Bowser
C - C&BT Shops
E - Eastern Car Works
IM - InterMountain
K - Kato
kb - Kitbash
KD - Kadee
L - Life-Like Proto 2000
m - needs some modification
0 - Overland (brass)
PS - Precision Scale (brass)
RC - Red Caboose
S - Sunshine (molded resin)
W - Westerfield (molded resin)
ST - Stewart
WR - W&R Enterprises (brass)

Established 04/22/96-Updated 03/10/2009

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