How long is a railway boxcar? (lengthwise)?

Question

How long is a railway boxcar? (lengthwise)?

Answer 1

Depends on the cargo, the bends and turns on the line, and the maximum speed of the engine.

Answer 2

They vary in length.  We average them out to 50 feet unless you know you are handling specialized cars that carry automotive parts or something like that.  They would be about 25 feet longer.

Answer 3

There are many different sizes.  Some are 48 ft and go all the way to 75 ft.

Answer 4

48' or 52'...depends on what the rail is hauling

Answer 5

back in the "old days"

rail cars were a universal 40 feet, that is long outdated of course.

Boxcars average about 60 feet now but there are many boxcars that are over 70'.

Refrigerated boxcars all run about 60'

Like most things in life, no simple answers.

Answer 6

The standard used for most railroad workers is 50 ft car lengths, this is a measurement used in determining distance during shoving moves and yard operations. However, rail cars vary in length as much as the type of cargo they carry. They can be as short as 40 ft. for very dense and heavy loads to over 80 ft such as some of the "high cube" cars used in the auto industry.