Cars
Cars are used to carry freight, or people in the case of passenger cars, from one location to another. Many types of cars are in common use, specialised to carry different types of freight. Trains are made up of tens or hundreds of cars travelling along a similar route, although not necessarily from the same origin or to the same destination.
Within Freight Yard Manager, 56 distinct types of car are represented. In many cases, these types represent the combination of both the physical characteristics of the car as well as the commodity being carried, to better represent traffic patterns. For example, there is no major difference between a standard boxcar and a boxcar carrying paper (although paper customers have stringent requirements on the condition of the car), so the FYM car types represent the fact that paper/cardboard travels on fairly well defined routes from paper mills to paper distributors, packaging plants, and printing companies.
Types of Car
The table below gives a summary of car types.
The tare weight is the weight of the empty car, while the load limit is the maximum amount of freight that can be loaded. The loaded weight of a car can be as high as the sum of the tare weight and the load limit, but may be lower if a car is not loaded fully. The load weight of a car is determined automatically by FYM. Many maximum car load weights often top out at 131.5t (263,000lb), which is universally handled across the rail network, or 143t (286,000lb), which can run on most major routes, but not all branches and shortlines.
Car types shown in italics are sub-types of the previous car type, giving some variation in physical characteristics, but otherwise behaving identically.
Two car types, Insulated Boxcars and Lumber Bulkhead Flats, are no longer used in FYM, as these car types have fallen out of use. Either general service boxcars or refrigerated cars replace the former, while lumber now travels on centerbeam flat cars.
| Car Type | Length (ft) | Tare Weight (tons) | Load Limit (tons) | Max Weight (tons) | Typical freight | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passenger | 80 | 30.0 | 37.5 | 67.5 | Passengers | |
| Well | 64 | 25.8 | 37.4 | 63.3 | Double stack containers, both domestic and international | Can come in articulated 3- or 5-car sets, which are permanently coupled |
| Spine | 65 | 18.0 | 31.0 | 49.0 | Truck trailers or single containers, almost entirely for domestic traffic | Comes as articulated 3- or 5-car sets, which are permanently coupled |
| Autorack | 83 | 52.5 | 28.0 | 80.5 | Automobiles, including vans and pickup trucks | Can come as articulated 2-car sets, which are permanently coupled |
| Woodchip | 64 | 36.0 | 95.5 | 131.5 | Woodchips, either for papermaking or for fuel | Represents both the classic open woodchip hoppers (often converted boxcars), and more recent covered hoppers |
| Box, General Service | 54 | 40.0 | 91.5 | 131.5 | General freight | |
| Coal | 53 | 21.9 | 121.1 | 143.0 | Coal | |
| Tank, General Service | 50 | 36.5 | 95.0 | 131.5 | General liquids, e.g. water, biodiesel, ink | Numerous commodity-specific types of tank car exist |
| Covered Hopper, Grain | 60 | 30.5 | 112.5 | 143.0 | Grain, such as wheat, corn, soybeans, barley | After processing, products carried in Food-Grade hoppers, or Feed hoppers for use as animal feed |
| Open Hopper, General Service | 44 | 30.5 | 112.5 | 143.0 | Dry bulk commodities not requiring weather protection, e.g. rock and aggregates | Numerous commodity-specific types of open hopper exist |
| Gondola, General Service | 52 | 35.0 | 108.0 | 143.0 | Large or bulk products not requiring weather protection, e.g. pig iron, pipes, railroad materials, sulfur | Numerous commodity-specific types of gondola exist |
| Ore Hopper | 35 | 31.6 | 111.4 | 143.0 | Mineral ores, most commonly iron ore | |
| Flat, 60' | 60 | 32.5 | 77.5 | 110.0 | Large items, e.g. telephone poles, tractors | Numerous commodity-specific types of flat car exist |
| Flat, Centerbeam | 74 | 31.5 | 100.0 | 131.5 | Lumber, wallboard | |
| Flat, Intermodal | 89 | 36.7 | 32.7 | 69.4 | Containers and trailers | Now very rare, replaced by Well and Spine cars. |
| Flat, MOW | 60 | 32.5 | 77.5 | 110.0 | Railroad maintenance of way equipment, e.g. rails and ties | |
| Coil | 46 | 30.5 | 112.5 | 143.0 | Coiled steel and aluminium | |
| Flat, Bulkhead | 67 | 42.0 | 101.0 | 143.0 | Commodities requiring some support to prevent movement, e.g. aluminium ingots, bricks, pipe | |
| Flat, Heavy Duty | 59 | 39.0 | 104.0 | 143.0 | Large industrial machinery | |
| Covered Hopper, General Service 4-bay | 59 | 30.0 | 113.0 | 143.0 | Dry bulk commodities | Numerous commodity-specific types of open hopper exist |
| RoadRailer Trailer | 54 | 25.4 | Special truck trailers equipped with rail axles. Only in service on NS between Kansas City and Detroit. | |||
| Refrigerator, Mechanical | 76 | 50.4 | 92.6 | 143.0 | Frozen food | |
| Box, 60' Auto Parts | 62 | 42.4 | 100.6 | 143.0 | Automobile parts | |
| Box, Paper | 52 | 37.1 | 105.9 | 143.0 | Paper, cardboard, pulp | |
| Tank, Food Grade | 50 | 36.5 | 90.0 | 126.5 | Food-grade liquid products | |
| Tank, Chemical | 54 | 33.8 | 97.7 | 131.5 | Liquid chemicals | |
| Tank, Pressure Chemical | 54 | 25.0 | 95.0 | 120.0 | Gases, e.g. LPG, chlorine, carbon dioxide | |
| Tank, Petroleum | 50 | 36.5 | 90.0 | 126.5 | Petroleum products, e.g. gasoline, diesel, and other fuels | |
| Tank, Ethanol | 54 | 33.8 | 97.7 | 131.5 | Ethanol, used as a fuel additive | |
| Tank, Corn Syrup | 54 | 36.5 | 95.0 | 131.5 | Corn syrup | |
| Tank, Vegetable Oil | 54 | 37.9 | 90.0 | 131.5 | Vegetable oil | |
| Tank, Slurry | 40 | 30.3 | 122.7 | 143.0 | Clay slurry for papermaking | |
| Tank, Acid | 45 | 30.6 | 100.9 | 131.5 | Acids | |
| Tank, Molten Sulfur | 37 | 29.7 | 101.8 | 131.5 | Molten sulfur, used in fertilizer manufacture | |
| Open Hopper, Sand | 44 | 30.5 | 112.5 | 143.0 | Sand | |
| Open Hopper, Petcoke | 44 | 30.5 | 112.5 | 143.0 | Petroleum coke, a byproduct of oil refining | |
| Open Hopper, Coke | 44 | 30.5 | 112.5 | 143.0 | Coke, for use in steelmaking | |
| Open Hopper, Ballast | 44 | 30.5 | 112.5 | 143.0 | Railroad Ballast | |
| Gondola, Steel | 52 | 35.0 | 108.0 | 143.0 | Steel ingots, bars, etc. | |
| Gondola, Rock | 36 | 27.3 | 115.7 | 143.0 | Rock | |
| Flat, Garbage | 89 | 30.0 | 113.0 | 143.0 | Garbage in containers | |
| Gondola, Garbage High-Sided | 63 | 36.2 | 106.8 | 143.0 | Garbage in containers | |
| Flat, Steel Bulkhead | 60 | 42.0 | 101.0 | 143.0 | Steel ingots, plates, etc. | |
| Covered Hopper, Food Grade 4-Bay | 59 | 30.0 | 104.0 | 134.0 | Bulk food, e.g. flour and sugar | |
| Covered Hopper, Plastic 4-Bay | 60 | 29.0 | 114.0 | 143.0 | Plastic pellets | |
| Covered Hopper, Sand 2-Bay | 39 | 27.5 | 115.5 | 143.0 | Sand | |
| Covered Hopper, Lime 2-Bay | 39 | 27.5 | 115.5 | 143.0 | Lime and crushed limestone | |
| Covered Hopper, Cement 2-Bay | 35 | 27.5 | 115.5 | 143.0 | Cement | |
| Covered Hopper, Feed 4-Bay | 63 | 34.9 | 108.1 | 143.0 | Animal feed, and grain byproducts for use as feed | |
| Covered Hopper, Fertilizer 4-Bay | 59 | 30.0 | 104.0 | 134.0 | Solid fertilizer | |
| Covered Hopper, Mineral 4-Bay | 59 | 30.0 | 104.0 | 134.0 | Bulk minerals, e.g. alumina, potash, soda ash | |
| Covered Hopper, Fly-Ash 2-Bay | 39 | 27.5 | 115.5 | 143.0 | Fly ash and crushed slag | |
| Covered Hopper, Salt 4-Bay | 59 | 30.0 | 104.0 | 134.0 | Salt | |
| Box, Lumber | 62 | 40.3 | 102.3 | 143.0 | Lumber | |
| Covered Hopper, Chemical 4-Bay | 59 | 30.0 | 104.0 | 134.0 | Bulk dry chemicals |
Passenger
Passenger cars carry people. While not the main focus of FYM, both long-distance services (e.g. Amtrak and VIA) and various commuter services are represented.
