ATCHISON, TOPEKA & SANTA FE RAILWAY
Box Car No. 600197 |
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Box cars increased in size over the years as freight loads became larger. Fifty-foot cars began appearing in the 1930s, followed by sixty-foot cars in the 1950s. This 60-foot car was built by the Santa Fe Railway in 1964.
New construction methods provided cars with cushioned underframes to limit freight damage during transit. This car has a sliding center beam which prevents sudden load shifts during starts and stops. This feature was marketed as "Super Shock Control," and that slogan was stenciled on the side of the car.
During their heyday, these cars could be found on trains all over the U.S. After this one was retired in 1990, the Santa Fe donated it to the museum.
Beginning in 1958 with its box car class Bx-66, Santa Fe added hydraulic cushion underframes with a 10-inch sliding center sill to its box cars and re-classified them as Bx-77. On the side of the car these were labeled "DF with Shock Control" (Damage Free). In 1961, newer cars extended this movement to 18 inches and called it "Super Shock Control." The coupler drawbars had to be extended in length to accommodate the larger movement. This car has a 20-inch movement.
This car was one of 39 built in the Topeka shops of the Santa Fe Railway in 1964 in design class Bx-88, numbered in range between 37400 - 37410 and also 37412 - 37439. These cars were modified in 1973 per job B-2043 with additional improvements and upgrades, and were re-numbered within the range 600172 - 600209, this one being No. 600197.
After it was retired by the Santa Fe in Phoenix in 1990, it was delivered to the museum's Pecos Road storage track, and was moved onto the Armstrong Park grounds in 1994. In 2006 it moved, along with the rest of the fleet, to the museum's new Tumbleweed Park location.
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11/25/2006 - View of the boxcar at Tumbleweed Park. |
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1994 - The car as delivered to ARM at Armstrong Park. |
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1987 - Santa Fe data sheet for class BX-88 boxcars. |