Heavy Nylon Straps about 4" wide, about 2.5 feet above the floor, running full length of car, with loops about every 3.5 feet.
Will be very quick and easy to shackle prisoners to these nylon straps with the heavy duty wire ties.
Photo taken in Chicago area Week of 6/10/2002 by Bro. Brian. Brian did look inside the cars. The cars are NEW and have had NO USE YET, or observable interior wear or inside occupancy, as of the date of the photo.
The markings on the side of the Car are Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railroad Logo."
Now some people are getting all worked up thinking that these boxcars will be used to haul people off to "camps". Can anyone shed any light on this? Urban legend? Thanks!
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Those "Prison Cars" have passed through Orange County from time to time. It seems that they load autos into them until they are needed for their "real" purpose.
Posts: 50 | From: Orange Calif | Registered: Oct 2002
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I think the idea of "prison cars" may be a hoax or a big misunderstanding. These cars are BNSF's new "AutoMax" cars, which are double length articulated auto racks. They've actually been around since before 9/11, although BNSF's fleet has gown sizeably since then. The interiors are correctly described, and necessary because of the moveable middle floor, which can be repositioned so that the car has either two or three levels. The straps are used to hold onto the vehicles. These are "next generation" auto racks and can be configured in a matter of minutes to haul passenger cars or higher profile vehicles like trucks and SUV's.
BNSF is not the only railroad to own these cars. KCS, CSX, and NS also have them, as well as the leasing company TTX. They are becoming increasingly more common in vehicle trains as the conventional auto rack fleet ages, and the railroads like them because they are more flexible. They are perhaps more prominent on BNSF because they tend to run whole unit trains of them (I've seen them on Tehachapi). But prison cars? Give me a break! I took a look at the website that this photo was related to - www.dccsa.com/greatjoy/ , and they say some pretty wierd stuff, so I'd think twice about whether what they were saying is true. No, I have to believe these cars are used for carrying automobiles and nothing else.
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Thanks for your informative input. I agree that the "prisoner" boxcar idea is laughable. I just needed some info to refute those claims. I'm not a trains expert, so I wasn't sure how to respond to these doomsdayers and fear mongerers. Now I do. Thanks again. If anyone else has anything else to add, PLEASE pile on! :-)
Posts: 2 | Registered: Apr 2003
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atsf3751's comments on the cars is correct. Some railfans have called them prison cars in jest because their appearance.
Posts: 50 | From: Orange Calif | Registered: Oct 2002
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John, I hope you are being sarcastic because railsub's post was hilarious!
Posts: 363 | From: Southwest North Central Florida | Registered: Apr 2002
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Kairho... be very quiet......railsub and I are going to spring our twin Mexican Suburbans and we don't want anyone spilling the beans..... if you know what I mean.......
Posts: 1418 | From: Houston, Republic of Texas | Registered: Jan 2001
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Pretty funny...they look like the could be prisoner cars! hehe Seen lots of those and usually they carry motorised conveyances usually know as Toyotas, Fords, Saturns.....
Posts: 139 | Registered: Oct 2002
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