Freight car percentages in a modern mixed freight train

Hey all,

Looking for information on what type of cars make up modern "mixed freight" trains. I've done my own back-of-the-envelope counts from rail fanning, in an effort to build realistic modern mixed freights on my layouts.

My modern layout is based on BNSF Trans-con traffic, as seen in the west (New Mexico-Arizona-California).
Does anyone know of any source of such a statistic?

My numbers are roughly rounded and look like this: Covered hoppers 20%, Tanks 20%, 50ft box 20%, Hoppers 10%, Gons 8%, Reefers 8%, Other boxcars 7%, Flats 7%.

Anyone want to weigh in on this? It's a hard thing to pin down, but it sure helps when you need a couple dozen or maybe hundreds of cars.

 

It's an important subject for a serious modeler.

Of course, it varies quite a bit by region. And by season. There are times when trains around here seem to be more covered hoppers than not--and the storage tracks alongside the elevators look awfully empty.

 

I think it depends on the area served and what industries are along those routes. I've watched quite a bit of film on the C&O. Aside from the obvious coal, mixed freights often took on varying degrees of mixes, but again, mostly reflect the industries along the route. "Peddler" freights are great, great modeling tools because in addition to the mix of car types, one can mix up the roads a bit as well. Something I love to do.

>>> http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/p/157260/1736165.aspx <<<<

 

Volumes will vary by time of year and customers you are seeing.

There are some reports out there that show volume of commodities hauled each year and % of freight car ownership. Trains Magazine reports them occasionally.

 

Oh yes, good question. I'm pretty much focusing here on the long strings of mixed freight I see go by. Not real concerned with autoracks, trailers, or stacks for this particular set up. I do enjoy rail fanning them however!

 

I think youre pretty close. You may notice alot of Railboxes as well. It's surprising how many are in an average train.

 

For BNSF, I would say very, very few open hoppers, many of these in old tie service. I would add a lot more flats, some in steel rebar and structural steel, but especially centerbeams in lumber service. Also gons in scrap service. On the other hand, reefers run in blocks as part of intermodal trains, so I wouldn't put very many in a mixed freight. Auto racks run in onesies-twosies in used car service on mixed freights, too.

 

Thanks jwb3, your points are well thought out. Yes, center beams are common and I've been overlooking them modeling-wise.

 

Center beams are also used for hauling drywall. That is very common in the Southwest.

You will get open hoppers and bathtub gons that were bad ordered from unit trains added to manifests so you will have the odd coal load. Older hoppers are often seen with ballast loads.

One that catches my eye is two Bay covered hoppers. They run in blocks full of sand or Portland cement. I see a lot of those.

 

For sure. I have my 20-car unit train of exactly this running this morning! I just call it the cement train. thx

 

I have filmed quite a few and put them up on my you-tube channel and thinking about it, there doesn't seem to be any consistent numbers. Time of year makes a difference, as well as wether the oil field is busy, here. The last one I piut up had a pleasant mix of all.

 

Caught this switching on the NTWLAU train going on this morning. There's a lot of different cars, including the open top old hoppers. Thought the OP would like this.

 

Thanks badlandnd. Yep, that's what I love to watch. I've taken a few videos like that, which lead me to this question.

 

I have quite a few from the last couple years. All are on my utube site there. It has made train watching more interesting! Seeing long strings of coal, and more coal, and more coal, then a brown worm or three, all gets a little mundane. So the changes have been more fun!

 

It occurs to me that perhaps the original question is flawed. Yes, mixed freight trains can have "ANY" combination of cars in it. I guess what I am looking for is what cars to buy, in order to have a pool of cars that can make realistic models. I'm shooting for 200 cars in my 1972 layout. If I currently own 80, I have 120 to go. This is where I'm trying to dial in the "what-types-of-cars-should-I-buy" question. I believe my percentages will roughly get me there.

Then the second, more complicated level: What mix of road names should be on those cars? For this issue, I've been sticking to 50% ATSF (home road), 25% connecting roads, and 25% lease / distant roads.

What a crazy hobby.

 

Aaah, the nut of the query.

Your home road and it's subsidiary and cooperating competitors are your top road names. That 50% should do for that. However, remember to stick with the industries your route serves for the highest quantity. If a paper mill, then primarily pulpwood in and boxcars out. So keep that in mind also. There are always the run through cars of the home road, and others. A coil steel car or three occasionally in the mix.

Also, don't forget about privately owned cars for a specific industry, too. ADM hoppers for that ADM elevator or mill, etc.

If you notice on the mixed trains I put up earlier, there are very few BNSF cars in the mix, and a lot of other outfits cars. Mostly privately owned cars. However, this is 2017, not 1972, and I think that in 72 there would be fewer private and more different railroads.