PACIFIC CAR and FOUNDRY
WP-57 December 1957 RBL Insulated Boxcar 4153 cubic ft 50 tons 70 900 lbs 50 ft 0 in 9 ft 1-3/4 in 9 ft 1 in 52 ft 2-3/4 in 10 ft 8 in 14 ft 9-5/16 in
8 ft 2-1/4 in wide X 8 ft 7-5/8 in high PC&F plug doors
Barber S-2-C 50 ton roller bearing trucks
PC&F PC loaders
601-608 8 belts, 609-610 6 belts
builder..
builder lot number.. built.. type.. volume.. capacity.. operational weight.. interior length.. interior width.. interior height.. length over strikers.. overall width.. overall height..
clear door opening.. door type.. trucks.. loader type..
In early 1957, the Tidewater was feeling the effect of a loss of wine traffic and a decrease in carloadings for perishable goods. The Western Pacific had approved the purchase of 100 RBL (RBL is
a code signifying an insulated, "refrigerator" type boxcar equipped with adjustable load devices) insulated boxcars and realized that the high demand for such cars in canned goods service and the fact that they operated on a milage basis
rather than a per diem represented a tremendous revenue potential for the railroads. The TS had purchased its first real freight car fleet, 25 XM-class boxcars in the 501 series, in 1955 and were seeing good car-haul
revenues from their use. Despite its depressed revenue, the Tidewater was in a positive cash position and it was suggested that the road place an add-on order behind parent WP's for 10 similar RBL cars. (At the same time, a similar
add-on order, for slightly different reasons, resulted in the acquisition of gondolas TS 201-205
.) This would create a new revenue source for the TIdewater and provide additional cars in the combined pool. The purchase was approved and the cars, TS 601-610, were built in December
1957 at a quoted price of $14,200 each. They were lettered in the "Rides Like A Feather" scheme of the WP cars with only the substituation of the Tidewater name and reporting marks. They were TS' first freight cars with roller
bearing trucks and came with Pacific Car and Foundry's Car-Pac damage free loader system. As such, they wore a script "CP" on their plug doors, denoting the load system.
The concurrent WP cars, numbered 56001-5700, were equipped with the Evans Damage-Free loaders. These load restraint systems were designed to minimize cargo damage in shipping. The delivery of the 601-610 resulted in a marked increase
in the road's car haul revenues. Adding to this was the delivery of a nearly identical set of 10 additional cars in the
In October and November 1972, the remaining members of the TS RBL fleet, along with WP's 55951 and 56001 class PC&F RBLs were sent back to their maker for remanufacturing. The cars were reclassified as XMI (code for insulated general service) boxcars with no loaders or cushioning devices. They received wider, 10'6" plugs doors during the rebuilding and were renumbered to WP series 61101-61296, losing their TS identity in exchange for the large WP initial scheme that was applied in the 1970's. They went on to serve through the UP merger, but all appear to have been stricken from the roster before 2000.
background information from WP-TS internal communications courtesy of the California State Railroad Museum Library, Western Pacific President's Papers Collection
601-610 series RBL Boxcars
Tidewater Southern Railway
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