Southern Big John covered hoppers

[Leo_Ames]

Not much information available that I've ever found on these cars besides their introduction and the landmark court case that allowed them to offer reduced rates using them, but how long did these cars last? Last I heard, many were in service (Mid 90s), but I was curious how many there were, and when they were retired?

Not sure of the length of the production run on the model was, but I assume its safe to say the 40 year rule for covered hoppers has now removed them all from interchange service?

Thanks for any information anyone can provide.

[SOU2645]

The cars were built in the 1962-1965 time frame. Many are still in service - some still wearing their original green "Big John" lettering. NS uses them to haul Kaolin.
Larry

[ferroequinarchaeologist]

There is a lengthy article on these and other freight car designs in the April issue of Trains magazine.
PBM

[Leo_Ames]

Actually, only a few little bits of information are given about them along with a couple of different pictures. It's what reminded me of some questions I've had for a couple of years that I could never answer using the internet, and thus why I posted this here.

[G&Fman]

The remaining Big Johns are used to haul bulk kaolin to Savannah. Most of them were "rebuilt" several years ago and renumbered in the 269000 series with "Thoroughbred BIG JOHN" on the sides near the top. There are a few with the original SOU 7000 & 8000 series reporting marks on them, although you can barely see them and the "Big John" logo on the top left hand corner.

All of them are quickly approaching the overage mark and have not been allowed to roam off NS rails for some years now. NS just sold 2 of them last week for scrap. Being made out of aluminum, they've outlived their usefulness.

Here's a pic I took on our wash track of one of the very few Big Johns left in original garb.