Pan Am boxcar fleet

From the PAR Locomotive Fleet topic page, poster by MEC407
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=554742" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Notice in the photo that several of the cars are from Pan Am.
With the closing of mostly all the paper mills in Maine, one would have a feeling that Pan Am could start making plans to down sizing their fleet of boxcars. Perhaps this video of 11/14 is a strong indicator that the hunch is taking place. Note how many empties there are heading westbound.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDAAmAQ1BNc" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

video by austin mcswiggin

Many of the boxcars are being sold off, or otherwise being disposed of.

CAIX got a bunch of PAR boxcars....refurbished, repainted for SNC

http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetai ... toID=86708" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetai ... toID=86709" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here's an ex-B&M boxcar repainted for SNC:

http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetai ... toID=86623" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

D

A month ago I saw several old B&M blue boxcars being turned into CAIX paint scheme (boxcar brown, aka reddish brown) at Waterville. The finished cars were identifiable by the exact match of hardware to the B&Ms (ladder & door size, style, and placement).

Keep in mind the push for the 60ft hi-cube for paper mills too.... the biggest factor here being whether their warehouses are properly setup to take in 60footers without compromising their loading capacity. Also, they need to learn the AAR approved loading patterns.

The CAIX boxes are going off site for repair at Curry Rail... browse around their website and you might see something familiar
http://www.curryrail.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Why is SNC leasing boxcars from CAIX? Assuming SNC is the Saratoga & North Creek,
where's the online business to support this acquisition?

D

Some leasing companies will contract to a short line to use its reporting mark. I think the cars can free flow better than with private X marks. I was in a model club in Iowa. One member was involved or was friends with Iowa Terminal folks. Often a leasing company would ask to do a deal. IT would get a cut from the cars using IATR.

Look at VTR. You can see hundreds of cars with Green Mountain (GMRC) marks. They don't have enough originating traffic to justify that many cars.