Model Railroading > Freight Car Regulatory markings by years

I'm trying to come up with a one page reference for the major freight car regulatory marking so I can properly mark models of a given year.
So far I've found the following

ACI label  1967-1978
Wheel Inspection dot 1978
Reflective Stripe 2005-current
AEI tag  1992 to current
COT&S label
  single panel 1972
  double panel 1974
  Triple panel  1982-2016  not required after 2016
Running boards came off new Box cars in 1966 and were to be removed from existing box cars by 1974.  exception were cars with hatches

PLEASE give me some feedback if these are right or wrong and if there are others  that I've missed

thanks
Mike Stewart
Oakley,CA​

Looks correct. I've seen running board date extended to 1982 IIRC.

Posted from Android

* ACI label  1967-1978
Those were the years of common use, many cars had them into 1980s and 1990s, some later retired with them still in place...

* Wheel Inspection dot 1978
Yes, April-June 1978 was when those were done.  White dots (cars with defective 33" wheels made by Southern Wheel Co.) would have only been seen on cars from April-December 1978 (so if you model any year other than 1978 you should not have any cars with the white dots) and again many cars had the yellow dots (indicating the car did not have the defective wheels) for decades after...  Cars built 1979 and later, and cars with 36" or 38" wheels should not have the dots.
 
* Reflective Stripe 2005-current
That is when they started being applied to all cars (about the end of the 5 year period during which we went from graffiti on 1% of cars to graffiti on 99% of cars) but some cars manufacturers had been doing the conspicuity striping on new cars as early as late 1990s.
 
* AEI tag  1992 to current 
* COT&S label 
* single panel 1972 
* double panel 1974 
* Triple panel  1982-2016  not required after 2016

Correct.  Again please keep in mind those denote years of first use.  Many cars kept earlier COTS styles for decades after revised ones became common.  I saw a single panel on a car in 2012 and double panel in 2018.

* Running boards came off new Box cars in 1966 and were to be removed from existing box cars by 1974.  exception were cars with hatches

Although uncommon some boxcars didn't have roofwalks removed until into the 1980s, and some in MOW service never had them removed.

Another freight car date indicator would be the "spreadsheet" style box of data on the right side of modern tank cars.  Those started about 2005, as did the practice by some companies of putting the reporting marks and car number on the top of the tank car too.

 

When was the CAPY line discontinued?

Great discussion. I've saved this to my model railroad notes!

onblock Wrote:
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> When was the CAPY line discontinued?

Mid to late 80's.  And many cars that originally had it had it painted out.

Nathan Beauheim
Loveland, CO

The yellow "ball" on black decal was only put on 70-ton cars that had been inspected and found to have wheels known to be OK.
Any 70-ton car without the yellow ball was to be taken immediately to a car shop or RIP track and inspected.  If the wheels were not Southern High Carbon they got the decal.  If the wheels were high carbon they had to be removed and replaced before the car could return to service.

Actually by the FRA directive that came out on 3/31/78 the cars inspected and found to have the suspect 33" wheels by Southern Wheel were to be marked with the white dots (U-1 inspection stencils).  Those cars could still be used in trains not carrying any hazardous materials but only until 12/31/78.  Most railroads tried to replace those wheels as soon as feasible in mid 1978.  Cars that were inspected and found to have other "okay" 33" wheels, and cars having had the suspect wheels replaced, got the yellow dot decals and since there was no instructions on when to remove those they generally lasted until car repainting or retirement.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/19 12:57 by CSX602.