Union Pacific Freight Cars

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This page was last updated on June 25, 2024.

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Photos

Freight Car Photos -- Photographs of Union Pacific freight cars, taken by Union Pacific.

BF-70-5 Flush-Door Box; UP 168391; UP 915219

This photo showed up on Trainorders. UP 915219, in well-worn paint.

(View a photo of UP 915219, lifted from Trainorders.com)

So I thought I'd see what I could find. On the image from the UP Equipment Record (up_mw_915200-915249_r3- 0892), I see that UP 915219 is ex UP 168391, built March 1969, renumbered to UP 915219 in July 1984.

(View the page for UP MOW cars, 915200-915249, roll 2, image 0892)

A search for anything numbered 168300 finds a sheet for the BF-70-5 cars (up_bf-70-5_168300-168399_r2-1804), with matching data for UP 168391 becoming UP 915219.

(View the page for UP BF-70-5 cars, 168300-168399, roll 2, image 1804)

Looks like the car has been in maintenance of way service longer than it was in revenue service

Dick Harley wrote on July 4, 2018:

That car has even more UP history, since the BF-70-5 class was constructed from parts from B-50-32 class cars that were built from May 1941 to January 1942. UP (at least the Equipment Record) apparently did not keep track of where the parts came from for the BF-70-5 rebuilt and stretched cars.

This rebuild and stretch history can be seen in the photo of 915219 by the 10 standard raised roof panels that are still painted and have running board brackets still attached. The three center roof panels (Stanray diagonal panel) and the end roof panels were originally galvanized, and the roof painted Aluminum. They also never had running board brackets

(View a photo of UP 168103, from the same series of rebuilt BF-70-5 cars, showing it new at Omaha)

CH-90 Covered Hoppers

CH-90-17
UP 219000 - 219149
Built 9 - 12/69 OMAHA
3209 cu ft
Built from stretched CH-70-1 and 2's

CH-90-20
UP 219150 - 219299
Built 1 - 5/70 OMAHA
3209 cu ft
Built from stretched CH-70-1 and 2's

Coal Liner Cars

UP Coal Liner -- Thornton Waite's article about UP's Coal Liner cars used in the Kaiser unit trains.

Express Box Cars

Express Box Cars -- Roster information for UP's 9100, 9200, and 9300 series Express Box cars; includes listings of the same cars as 24100, 24200, and 24300 series from the 1960s, along with the short lived 24400 series retired Baggage cars.

G-50-11 Drop-Bottom Gondolas

The following was compiled by Dick Harley:

The Union Pacific class G-50-11 drop-bottom gondolas were built by Pullman-Standard between February and May 1943. Because of wartime restrictions on the use of steel, the sides were sheathed with wood. There were 1000 cars in the class, numbered 64000 to 64999. The lettering was all white on a UP synthetic Freight Car Red painted car. The inside of the car was not painted. The Inside Length was 41'-0"; the Cubic Capacity was 1874 cubic feet; and the Light Weight was nominally 49300 lbs.

In July 1947, UP changed the color of most of its freight car lettering from white to Armour Yellow. So any gondola repainted after that date would have all yellow lettering.

Though drawings were issued in October 1945, the wood side sheathing was actually replaced with steel in 1950 and 1951. The resulting new Cubic Capacity was 1950 cubic feet, and the new Light Weight was nominally 51800 lbs.

U.P. removed the 1-inch horizontal bars near the reporting marks in November 1952, added the safety slogan "Be Careful" in June 1953, and removed the periods from the reporting marks in November 1957. So cars repainted after those dates would reflect those lettering changes.

In August 1956, U.P. introduced 20-inch "Union Pacific" lettering to its freight cars. While the 1969 version of the class G-50-11 lettering drawing does not show 20-inch lettering (presumably because of the diagonal side bracing), photos do show 20-inch lettering on some cars repainted in the 1970s.

Between July and November 1960, 80 cars had extensions added to their sides and ends for wood chip service, and they were renumbered to 61500-61579. An additional 30 cars were similarly modified in January and February 1966 and renumbered to 61580-61609.

In September 1961, U.P. changed the lettering on Freight Car Red cars from Armour Yellow back to White. So red cars repainted after that date would have all white lettering.

Between December 1967 and May 1969, approximately 180 cars had their bottom doors removed and side stakes added for special logging service. They were renumbered by adding a "6" in front of their car number to make the 664000-664999 series. In late 1969 and early 1970, approximately 26 more cars were similarly modified, but with taller side stakes, and also renumbered to the 664xxx series. All those cars (and others, for a total of 300) were later rebuilt again for log service in 1971 and 1972 and renumbered 66800-66949 and 67500-67649 respectively.

In October 1969, U.P. changed their freight car reporting marks from 9-inch to 14-inch, and the car number from 7-inch to 14-inch.

Between April 1971 and June 1972, 48 cars were modified for ore service by having a solid steel bottom floor installed. They were renumbered to 67000-67047.

From May to July 1974, 100 more cars were modified with side stakes for assigned logging service. They were renumbered to 63000-63099. All modified and renumbered cars kept their original G-50-11 class designation.

In July 1975, there were still 400 class G-50-11 cars with their original car numbers, and there was a total of 919 cars still listed in service.

(Dick Harley email to Don Strack, dated June 20, 2017)

Heavy Duty Flat Cars

In October 1968 through June 1969, UP rebuilt 100 retired arch-roof heavyweight Baggage cars to F-70-23, -24, -25, -26 heavy-duty flat cars in its Omaha, Denver and Los Angeles car shops. These 100 flat cars were numbered in UP's 258600 series, then renumbered to the MoW 909300 and 909400 series.

The specific numbering sequence of heavyweight Baggage car to heavy-duty flat car is not shown in UP's Equipment Record, except for 35 cars in the 258600-258624, and 258680-258689 groups.

(Read more about these heavy duty flats as MoW flat cars; includes a bare-bones roster listing)

HOGX Modern Stock Car

UP still had strong livestock traffic through the 1970s. Cattle moves were mostly in regular train service from the PNW to auction yards and feedlots in the Midwest. In the fall the were cattle stock specials from the PNW to Midwestern points (especially Columbus, NE). Hottest trains on the railroad, even passed up Amtrak. The Clougherty hog move to LA lasted until 1994, when Clougherty changed to raising hogs in Arizona. Cattle traffic died sometime in the 1980s. (Rob Leachman, message on Trainorders.com, September 22, 2017)

(Read more about the livestock trains on the LA&SL)

UP 10000 was a prototype of an upgraded stock car for the Farmer John service constructed by Gunderson and their Portland plant in 1986 or 87. UP furnished a retired box car to serve as the core of the new car, and Gunderson designed and constructed the various features which included closeable slats and watering troughs. UP 10000 was renumbered as HOGX after UP and Farmer John (Clougherty Packing company) decided to build subsequent cars as HOGX (to be owned by Clougherty) rather than UP cars like the prototype.

In early 1989 Union Pacific contracted with Gunderson, Inc. of Portland, Oregon, to rebuild 90 former Missouri Pacific Pullman-Standard 60' box cars from MP series 264500-264715. These cars were owned by HOGX, and hauled hogs to Farmer John, a meat packer in Vernon, California. HOGX stock car 55 was photographed on a Union Pacific freight in San Bernardino, California, on May 5th, 1989. (View the photo of HOGX 55)

"HOGX -- As reported in Freight Cars Journal, Issue 30, page 9, are "new" 60-foot stock cars. These are actually Pullman-Standard boxcars, built December 1964 and January 1965, that have been rebuilt into these stock cars. The cars were originally delivered as MP 264500-264715. Rebuilding is being done by Gunderson of Portland, Oregon in February to April 1989. Numbers so far observed go up to HOGX 74. Cubic feet capacity is stenciled as 6516." (Freight Cars Journal, Volume 6, Number 3, Issue 31, July 28, 1989, page 9)

Photographic research has found a photo of HOGX 88, dated July 1989, as part of a westbound train departing Salt Lake City.

The HOGX stock car movements on Union Pacific came to an end in 1995. In 1988, the Clougherty Packing company had formed a partnership with a California hog farmer, then took over the entire operation in 1994. In 1992 Clougherty Packing company also started buying hogs raised in northeastern Arizona, which were trucked to California.

A photo taken in March 1995 shows four HOGX cars at the head of a westbound Union Pacific train passing near Tooele.

(View a photo of HOGX cars at Stockton, Utah, in 1993)

HOGX = Hog Express, owned by Clougherty Packing Company, owner of the "Farmer John" brand of processed meats. (Read more about Clougherty Packing Company)

There is a senseless rumor among railroad modelers and railfans that HOGX = Harlis Oil & Gas, a subsidiary of Union Pacific Railroad. There was a Harlis Oil & Gas headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but the company was active only in the 1920s.

Impact Car; UP 195220

The following comes from Railroad magazine, August 1964, page 31:

"History, please, of Union Pacific's plexiglas car 195220. -- Built in 1917 as ordinary boxcar 124557 she was rebuilt in 1952 with transparent sides, renumbered 195220, and put into service in a freight-loss and damage-prevention campaign. Because of wide publicity, she was probably the best-known freight car of all time. Nine other North American railroads built cars embodying her features. Inquiries regarding her construction came from Britain, Germany, Belgium, and Japan. For 11 years this demonstration car traversed not only home rails, over most of the UP system, but those of other roads also and won wide acclaim. Looking at her, shippers could actually see the effectiveness of loading and bracing methods in a manner comparable to doctors and surgeons studying the inside of the human body with X-ray. Finally outliving her usefulness, she was dismantled in July, 1963."

It was built in May 1917 as UP 124557; rebuilt at UP's Omaha shop in May 1943 and renumbered as UP 195220; retired by UP in July 1963.

The UP Equipment Record shows UP 195220 with a brief note as being vacated in July 1963, with a notation "Plexiglas Car."

An examination of high resolution photos of the car reveals that the open-mesh and "Plexiglas" portions were only on one side of the car (the right side, with the brake wheel to the rear). The other side retained its original solid side structure. No photos of the solid side of the car have yet been found.

UP Equipment Record, Image R2-0490

Photo of UP 195220, from "UP Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment," published in 1993.

UP Freight Car Diagram for Class B-50-11

UP Freight Car Diagram for Class B-50-36

PFE Freight Car Data

(Read more about the cars of Pacific Fruit Express, and Union Pacific Fruit Express)

Rail Box

In March 1983, Union Pacific received 550 former Rail Box (RBOX) cars, and Missouri Pacific received 998 former RBOX cars. Instructions were issued on March 2, 1983 for the MP cars to be renumbered from the RBOX 11000-11996 series, to the new MP 356700-357684 series. New MP reporting marks were to be applied as follows: 9-inch on side; 4-inch on end; 3-inch on center sill and 2-inch inside of car, car doors, and truck bolsters. At least 53 MP cars were completed at UP's Salt Lake City One-Spot car shop between March 29 and May 19.

For the 550 cars returned to Union Pacific, the cars were to be renumbered from the RBOX 20080-20399 and 21360-21599 series, to the new UP 130000-130311 and 130400-130637 series. A standard 14-inch UP reporting mark was to be applied to the sides, 4-inch mark to the ends, and 2-inch marks were to be applied on the inside of the car, to the trucks, and any place else a reporting mark was located. at least 24 cars had been completed during the same March 29 to May 19 time period.

RBOX Cars to MP Numbers (PDF; 8 pages; 10.2MB)

RBOX Cars to UP Numbers (PDF; 13 pages; 13.2MB)

Red Dot Box Cars

(Read more about the Red Dot box cars)

Steel Coil Flat Cars

In 1956, Union Pacific built a group of 53'-6" flat cars at its Omaha shops using 300 cast underframes furnished by General Steel Castings (GSC). They were class F-70-1. The original number series was to be 59000 to 59299. The original diagram (F-7-18, Drawn 8-23-1956) says there were 300 cars - but things changed. Fifty of the frames were built into steel coil loading cars, and the number series for standard flats became just 59000 to 59249.

The initial batch of steel coil cars in 1956 was 50 new cars numbered 259100 to 259149. (And apparently two of those were replaced by conversions of 59089 and 59105 in 12/1959.) Beginning in March 1959, more steel coil cars were created by converting F-70-1 cars in the 59001-59249 series. The total was up to 100 cars by 1960, and up to 130 cars by 1964. The number series expanded to be 259100 to 259229.

Another batch of 70 cars was done in 1980-1981 by redoing cars in the 259101-259226 series and giving them new numbers in the 259230 to 259299 series - not sure why. The number series for the whole lot was 259100-259299, but at no time did the total number of cars exceed 130. These cars kept their class of F-70-1 even after conversion to steel coil loading.

A later diagram for the cars with steel coil cradles (F-7-56, Drawn 6-26-1967) has the cars numbered 259100-259299 with a revision date of 12-1983. After two revisions of the diagram sheet (rev. A dated 9-1-75; rev. B dated 1/80), the diagram shows 130 cars as "Steel Coil Loading," Class F-70-1, converted in 1956, with a maximum coil diameter of 55 inches. The diagram does not list individual car numbers, but they can be found in the UP Equipment Records.

The Winter 2015 issue of The Streamliner has a substantial article on UP's GSC flat cars. That article seems to support the two number series and the 300 car count by using ORER entries. An example would be the 4/1/1968 ORER entry that shows 44 cars in the 59000-59249 series and 130 cars in the 259100-259299 series. In an ORER for July 1972, note 25, all 130 cars are still listed in service. The other ORER listings in The Streamliner article are 126 cars in 7/1975, 33 cars in 4/1974, 8 cars in 1/1994 and 1 car in 1/2001.

There is one photo in the Streamliner article of UP259270 with a caption that says the car was renumbered in 7/1980 from UP 259203. It has routing instructions that say "WHEN EMPTY RETURN TO UPRR AGENT GENEVA, UTAH".

Trying to justify the 300 original F-70-1 cars using the numbers in The Streamliner article is hard because many 59000-59249 cars were made into bulkhead cars in the 153xx-155xx series. The best documentation is the 1957 ORER numbers of 245 cars in the 59000-59299 series; 5 cars in the 259000-259004 series; and 50 cars in the 259100-259149 series.

Another 10 cars in the F-90-1 class built in 1966, numbered 259300 to 259309, were also used for steel coil loading. Bulkhead flats with special tie-downs were used for steel plate loading.

More of the story can be determined by examining the two pages for these cars in the UP Equipment Record:

Dick Harley wrote a brief history to explain the diagram F-7-18, noted above.

When originally drawn in August 1956, UP had ordered 300 cast frames from GSC. Hence the diagram says 300 cars in the 59000-59299 series. But things didn't transpire that way. Five of the frames (intended for cars #59195-59199) got used for cars #259000-259004 in special AEC service. Then, 50 of those frames were used for the first 50 steel coil cars #259100-259049, and the 59000 series numbers only got to 59249.

So if you look at ORER records for 1957, you'll see 245 standard flats, 5 AEC cars and 50 steel coil cars - for a total of 300 cars (frames).

When the diagram F-7-18 was revised, it took awhile for the data to be corrected, and some of it never was. I have a 1-7-60 revision 'B' that still shows the number series as 59000-59299. Such is the way of documenting UP history. Always a puzzle to be solved.

(Sources include emails from Dick Harley, Steve Solombrino, and Tim O' Conner)

Stock Cars

Union Pacific 48330; originally OSL boxcar 120579, built in July 1914, is preserved at Douglas, Wyoming.

Union Pacific had single-deck, double-deck, and triple-deck stock cars. The double-deck cars had a 'D' suffix as part of the car number, and the triple-deck car had a 'T' suffix. The double-deck were used for either cattle , sheep or hogs as the bottom deck had a higher clearance for cattle. A mixed load could include pigs or sheep on the upper deck or both decks. UP modified some cars to allow cattle on both upper and lower decks. The triple-deck cars were used only for sheep or hogs, but they were built later. During 1977-1978 triple-deck hog cars were cleaned on the siding at Collins, Idaho, on the Mackay branch. By that time all stock cars to be cleaned on UP's western lines came through Collins. The last loads of cattle moved east out of Pocatello were two cars on the SPX in early 1980. The last Montana Stock Special seen in the southeast Idaho area, came from the Dillon area in the fall of 1979, but this may not have been the actual last movement. The last cattle shipment from Ellsworth, Kansas, on the former Kansas Pacific, was in 1984 or 1985. (Reports on Trainorders.com, September 17, 2022)

In Utah, each fall in the early 1940s until the rails were pulled up in 1952, lambs were loaded on UP's Fairfield Branch, which connected with UP's Provo Subdivision at Lehi. The lambs were loaded on the double-deck cars and sent them either to Ogden or Omaha. The lambs' owner accompanied the shipment, riding in the caboose, then returned home by bus. (Blaine McKinney, September 17, 2022)

UPFE Refrigerator Cars

(Read more about the cars of Pacific Fruit Express, and Union Pacific Fruit Express)

More Information

Freight Car Paint -- An index of Painting, Lettering & Numbering information for freight cars (under construction)

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