Tuesday, January 29, 2013

CSX Coil Car Mystery

Hi all----I have a mystery about a coil car that I am seeking to solve with your help.
Back in 2000, I shot a brand-spanking-new CSXT Thrall coil car in mineral red, CSXT #496329.
(photo above copyright, Patrick Harris, 2013)
I didn’t recall seeing any of these mineral-red cars again after my time in Jackson, so I went to RRPictureArchives to see when/if they got repainted. Imagine my surprise when I found the exact same car #, but the car not only was painted in the more traditional blue and yellow of CSX coil cars, but was in fact now an NSC coil car:
CSX 496329
Photo is courtesy of RRPicture Archives. See it on the site below:
A look at the page listing this number series (CSXT #4963XX) shows them all to be NSC cars.
Can anyone tell me if the mineral-red cars were returned to lessor, sold, or re-numbered to another series? It may not be a mystery to someone who knows, but it certainly is to me!

6 comments:

  1. 1. What are the spotting features of a Thrall vs an NSC?

    2. No 496342 is supposedly built in May 2000:
    http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/rsPicture.aspx?id=354952
    Seems strange that you could then photograph a different car from the same series in red at around the same time.

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  2. Maybe this photo http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=905110 of the next car (496375) has the answer!

    It's also now mysteriously an NSC car. BUT the car it's coupled to has been patched! Probably returned to the lessor and patched & renumbered when leased to the new lessee.

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  3. Here's another combo shot: http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=41167

    Now I'm not sure how to dig up lease info? My current approach is to look at all the notes fields in these sites to see if there's any info there.

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  4. Try the Surface Transportation Board (STB) recordations at
    http://www.stb.dot.gov/recordations.nsf
    go to the "recordation numbers" link under "rail recordations"
    and then you can search for whatever keywords might find info.

    The STB recordations record new builds, sales, leases, etc., but can be tough to navigate and find what you are looking for. But, well worth the effort in many instances.

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  5. Bingo! Look at the PDF attachment to this record, page 17.

    http://www.stb.dot.gov/recordations.nsf/ea53705739fd721885256b70005eb6e2/21430dddee00f9c7852571fc005aae0a?OpenDocument&Highlight=2,TR

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  6. The initial car you were interested in is actually listed on page 15.

    By golly, there's a lot of paperwork behind each of those cars you see rolling the rails.

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