How can i find out about an old freight train car?

Question

i was in troy ny this past saturday and i saw a really old freight train car it had a giant bucket in the middle of it i never seen anything like that before

Answer 1

If we have the same image in our minds, it sounds like the cars I've seen around steel mills. They are usually shorter than a regular rail car, and not as high either. The frame is exposed and very heavy duty, also dipped or lowered in the middle to provide a lower center of gravity. These are used to carry molten steel, or steel slag, from a steel furnace a short distance to molds or extruders. I've never been to Troy, but from Junior High history class, I know that Troy used to be the heart of the industrial revolution in the U.S. up until about WW I. So maybe it was a car from an old steel mill.