PACIFIC CAR and FOUNDRY

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December 1958

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 roller bearing trucks

Evans DF loaders

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Delivered along with the 611-620 class RBL boxcars, Tidewater 801-840 were basically identical cars with a different load restraint system.  While the 601 and 611 cars used PC&F's own Car-Pac loaders, the 801 class came with Evans Damage-Free loaders.  This made them identical to WP series 56001-5700, delivered by PC&F a year earlier.

Like the two other RBL classes, they were lettered in the "Rides Like A Feather" scheme with Tidewater name and reporting marks with only the substitution of the Evans "DF" loader mark on the plug doors.

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

801-840 series RBL Boxcars

Tidewater Southern Railway