Box Car Roof Walk Question


macjet

macjet

Member
I am modeling the Rock Island at shutdown. I have one 1951 build box car with the roof walk.

When did the FRA begin requiring that RR's remove the walk and what was the last date one would have seen walks on box cars?

Thanks.

Jacob
 
Most railroad cars roof walks started being removed in 1968, when the FRA outlawed them except for certain types of cars. There was 10 year grace period where:

1. The roofwalk had to moved and the only side ladder that was full size was the one the reached to brake wheel.

2. The second phase was when brake wheels had to lowered to a half height side ladder. You could leave the ladders but they had to be cut down. Same thing with the roofwalk attachments.

3. The last phase was removing all roofwalk attachments and adding a crossing platform so the brakeman could get to the brake wheel without having to pass between cars.

By 1978, all cars in interchange service had to abide by these standards. No new cars, again with certain exceptions, have been produced since 1970 so car producing companies wouldn't have rework cars already in the pipeline. The main exception to the roofwalks on covered hoppers and a few other specialized cars. These are technically called loading platforms and it's illegal for a crew member to be on the roof while the car was in motion. None of these rules applied to company service cars and it's still common to see company service boxcars with roof walks.
 
So then a box car we pick up that never had a roof walk would have been made in 1968 or later? My layout will be timed for 1963, and I am trying to get the feel for what was prototypical in that time period. I bougth the entire year of 1963 TRAINS magazine to get an idea, but you would be surprised how little they showed freight car details.
 
Correct, all boxcars in 1963 had roofwalks. Removal of roofwalks didn't start in earnest until about 1970. If you want to stick with an accurate time period, rooflwalk-less boxcars, especially from the factory, are about 10 years too late for you. The cool thing about 1963 is you can mix just about any kind of steelm wood, or composite car and it was probably in use in 1963. All would have had roofwalks though.
 
UP2CSX said:
Most railroad cars roof walks started being removed in 1968, when the FRA outlawed them except for certain types of cars. There was 10 year grace period where:

1. The roofwalk had to moved and the only side ladder that was full size was the one the reached to brake wheel.

2. The second phase was when brake wheels had to lowered to a half height side ladder. You could leave the ladders but they had to be cut down. Same thing with the roofwalk attachments.

3. The last phase was removing all roofwalk attachments and adding a crossing platform so the brakeman could get to the brake wheel without having to pass between cars.

By 1978, all cars in interchange service had to abide by these standards. No new cars, again with certain exceptions, have been produced since 1970 so car producing companies wouldn't have rework cars already in the pipeline. The main exception to the roofwalks on covered hoppers and a few other specialized cars. These are technically called loading platforms and it's illegal for a crew member to be on the roof while the car was in motion. None of these rules applied to company service cars and it's still common to see company service boxcars with roof walks.
Click to expand...

Thanks Jim!
 
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