86' Thrall High Cube Box Car

Prototype Information

Between 1963 (when Thrall constructed the first two prototype cars) through 1978 (when Greenville supplied the last 86-foot, 6-inch hi-cube auto parts cars), the fleet of these freight cars swelled to 11,073. Of the commercial car builders, Thrall Car Manufacturing assembled 3,544 cars, placing them in the middle of the pack (production number-wise) between Greenville and Pullman-Standard. Thrall supplied cars from 1964 through 1973.

Thrall fabricated only part of the car in-house — the underframe assembly. Outsourced items included the roof and end sheets (to Stanray), doors (to Youngstown), and specialties such as brake gear, internal loader devices, etc. In a somewhat unusual move (for a large manufacturer), Thrall also chose to have the sides assembled by outside builders (due to the lack of floor space at their plant). Both International Steel Company (ISC) and Youngstown Steel Door (YSD) supplied the sides, and therein lies the key to the various Thrall designs, which are easily identified in any clear photo.

The major differences in the Thrall built cars were their side designs. In June 2006, Stephen Mayberry researched these cars and posted his findings to the Modern Freight Cars List, wherein he segregated cars by side design. Expanding on this excellent reference, a summary of the key differences for each car type follows. (Note: “Types” is a convenient shorthand to sort cars; neither Thrall nor the railroads differentiated between the various designs.) Across the production run, Thrall produced five 4-door side designs and two for the 8-door cars.

At the most basic level, cars received either welded or riveted sides. ISC furnished all the welded versions. Cars had either single or double welds at each interior side post. ISC had exited the business when Thrall returned to 86-foot car production in 1973, so Thrall contracted with Youngstown, which chose to furnish riveted sides.