When railroads first came into existence in this country, they hauled all types of cargo ranging from people to livestock to raw materials. Over the years, the equipment to transport the various types of freight became more specific to each product. Today's railroads still transport many kinds of commodities, and chances are much of what we have in our homes was shipped by rail before reaching its final destination. One such interesting product is new automobiles - it is quite likely that your car took a train ride before reaching the dealer's showroom. How the railroads move automobiles from manufacturer to showroom is a fascinating story. Over the years, it went full circle.

In the early days of the automobile industry, as new autos were produced they were shipped by rail across the country. The medium for shipment was similar to most other cargo, as the new autos traveled in boxcars. The type of boxcar used was 50-foot long and equipped with wide double doors for easy loading and unloading. Many of the cars equipped for this service were classified as the 50-foot AAR standard automobile boxcar. Because a majority of the nation's major railroads owned them, they could be found in all parts of the country. Many performed dedicated service hauling exclusively new automobiles, with the boxcars being equipped with a special loading device or rack, but there were occasions when the cars were used for transport of component parts to another location where final assembly of the new automobiles were performed. At other times, these cars could be found transporting cargo such as furniture or other packaged merchandise.

Moving new automobiles from assembly line to showroom in the boxcar had both advantages and disadvantages. While these "nice rolling garages" as they were called provided great protection from the elements, the boxcar was not very efficient - only four vehicles could be loaded per car. Even though the rail cars were equipped with wide double doors, they were still awkward and slow to load.

Two different versions were made: bi-levels usually holding eight to ten autos and tri-levels that would hold 12 - 15 autos. The lower freight rates applied to these more productive cars allowed the railroads to finally win back some business. The automotive manufacturers loved the new cars while the over-the-road truckers hated them. It was not long after the inception of the new auto rack car that freight trains began to have a rather different look. Many new automobiles were being shipped by rail to auto terminals where they were then "rubbered" to various locations in the region.

One might wonder how a railcar of this type was loaded. Basically, several railcars were coupled together and placed on a rail spur. A short steel "bridge" attached to the end of each level of the railcar was then manually lowered for vehicle loading, providing a continuous driving lane the length of the coupled cars. A movable wayside ramp would then be placed against the first railcar to permit automobiles to gain access to each level. The new automobiles were actually driven onto the railcar by way of the ramp. To unload was simply the reverse process. Vehicles were anchored and chained in place for protection during transit. The automobile manufacturers designed a standardized set of under frame slots for their vehicles, which permitted a matching T-headed fitting on the railcar tie-down chains to be quickly attached. Automobile suspension systems sometimes required slight modification in their design, to prevent excessive bouncing during the rail trip.

Innovative new methods were used to purchase or lease the supporting racks, and leasing agreements went into effect between many railroads and freight car leasing companies. Some railroads built their own auto rack cars or purchased them outright from the car builders for the new service. For example, the Santa Fe built its own cars by converting cushioned flatcars. Regardless of who built the car, the format was the same - a flat car with an open rack on top. During the 1960s, however, many railroads were cash strapped and were skeptical about investing in new freight cars. Here is where the leasing agreement came into play, and it was quite attractive to the railroads. The concept was to keep the rack separate from the flatcar, which resulted in reduced costs and allowed the railroads to adapt quickly to market needs. The agreement was quite simple. The railroad leased a flatcar from the Trailer Train Company (TTX), and then purchased the auto rack. This joint effort explains why many auto rack cars carried Trailer Train reporting marks while also displaying a railroad emblem. While this concept of split ownership began in the 1960s, it is still practiced today. A few railroads preferred to own the entire car, such as the Grand Trunk Western, Santa Fe, Southern and Southern Pacific/Cotton Belt. While the two Canadian railroads originally owned their own flatcars, today they both participate in the lease agreement.