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I was in Encinitas, California, near San Diego along BNSF's rail line recently. I noticed some unusual cars on freight trains there. They were the same types of cars seen on the BNSF in Flagstaff, Arizona about a month ago. They appeared to be auto carriers. They had two rows of square "windows" on them. The most recognizable feature was that they were articulated. Each car had three trucks with two sections that could bend.
I have not seen these types of cars on the Union Pacific in Phoenix where I live. Am I correct that these are auto carriers? Did BNSF recently purchase these cars? Do other railroads use them?
Thank you
------------------ Elias Valley Railroad (N-scale) www.geocities.com/evrr
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Konstatin Guess it's the 1st time you seen them. They're know as Auto-Maxes. Been around a couple of years now. Current RRs & reporting marks include BNSF, KCS, Ferromex, CRLE, COE & AOK. The 1st 3 have the RR logos on them while the last 3 have have big red Auto-Max lettering on them. They can be set up as bi-levels or tri-levels so can carry about any vehicle. Athearn makes all except the Ferromex, but Oddball does the decals for all of them. They retail for $50 a pop but cheaper on ebay & discount hobby shops. They sure look nice snaking around the layout!
Konstantin Member # 18
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Thank you for the information. Those must have been the Automaxs. I had not heard of, nor seen them before. I think model Automaxs would look nice on a layout, a bit unusual with the articulation.
------------------ Elias Valley Railroad (N-scale) www.geocities.com/evrr
coach34135 Member # 1979
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I wonder if you saw the same autorack train we saw going up the Cajon couple days ago! Was it ALL auto and like one box at the end?
Those are the latest & greatest in auto transport technology. From a distance they could look like passenger cars!
cajon Member # 40
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Coach Funny you should mention looking like passenger trains. One of the guys in our club wants to make some to run on On3!
coach34135 Member # 1979
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quote:Originally posted by cajon: Coach Funny you should mention looking like passenger trains. One of the guys in our club wants to make some to run on On3!
That would be interesting!
Konstantin Member # 18
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There was not a box car at the end. Too bad, that would have been a nice coincedence.
It is funny that you should mention those cars looking like passenger cars. A non-railroading friend of mine first saw them in Flagstaff. Afterwards, he asked me if Santa Fe was running passenger trains again.
------------------ Elias Valley Railroad (N-scale) www.geocities.com/evrr
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