International Railroad Discussion > Freight Car Friday Extravaganza: Vietnam Edition!

In February of this year I spent about a week and a half in Vietnam, traveling from Hanoi to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) by train. I was surprised and happy to see as much freight activity as I saw. Vietnam is meter gauge and the railways were built during the French occupation (French Indochina). With certain exceptions the equipment tends to be older but well maintained.

Disclaimer #1: Most shots were taken through glass from a moving train, sometimes in the rain.

Disclaimer #2: I regret not being able to get shots of several of the Ratraco Logistics equipment including blue boxcars with orange stripes and blue and orange gondolas used to carry marine containers.

Disclaimer #3: I really regret not getting images of the Greenlines Logistics equipment including a unique design of a single well container car and 'screened in' bi-level (?) autoracks. Greenlines Logistics is a joint venture of the Japanese company Nissin and the Vietnamese company Ratraco. Their equipment can be seen at
https://www.nissin-tw.com/english/service/logistics-solution/asia/vietnam.html

We went overnight from Hanoi, arriving into Hue the next morning. At the town of Duc Hoa (the station says Ga Ngoc Lam and I am not going to try to do all the special accent marks), there was a northbound freight in a third-track siding (behind an Alco or equivalent thereof!) and I clicked away from my sleeping compartment.

1. A 45-foot Haraco flat car for container transport. Haraco is Hanoi Railway Transport, a primary operator of freight and passenger trains on behalf of the Vietnam Railways (VNR).

2. I would estimate about a 60-foot Vietnam Railways boxcar in the newest scheme with MKT-inspired stripes. Note the 60 Km/h speed restriction marked on the side sill.

3. About a 50-foot Vietnam Railways boxcar of a completely different design. Those four 'windows' that can clearly slide down makes me wonder if it could be used for hauling grain (e.g., rice).

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4. Another ~60-foot VNR boxcar but in brown.

5. A ~50-foot VNR boxcar of another design and in green with American-looking trucks (and couplers).

6. Another 45-foot Haraco flat car with container. "XE CHO" is "car for."

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7. A VNR 40-foot spine flat car for container loading. The next car (no photo) looks like the same car but in brown.

8. The final image from this train is a brown version of a VNR 50-foot boxcar with the four 'windows' that make me think it might haul grains. Not sure why I did not photograph the next car which may have been an end-of-train Haraco crew car of sorts that some trains had. I don't think I ever saw a Haraco boxcar.

9. A better image of a VNR boxcar in green in the city of Dong Ha in Quang Tri province. All the dimensions and capacities can be seen but I have a hard time interpreting them.

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10. At the Hue station I managed this shot of a VNR flatcar with low sides. While I saw several gondolas in container service, I am not sure what they use these for, I don't think containers.

11. And finally, the one shot that I got of a Ratraco 40-foot flatcar with Ratraco container before boarding my train in Da Nang.

And I almost forgot, presented graffiti-free for your enjoyment.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/20/25 15:14 by NMlurker.

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The cars in pictures 3 and 8 appear to have vents and not grain hatches.

PHall Wrote:
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> The cars in pictures 3 and 8 appear to have vents
> and not grain hatches.

I can believe that, I just hadn't seen such large, unprotected vents.

Different box cars, for sure. The flat cars look the narrow gauge ones we have in Brazil 

Pedro Rezende
Vespasiano MG,
https://youtube.com/c/minasgeraisrailways1