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Jan 31, 2002
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Right from the start in 1976, Conrail began developing its extensive and complex boxcar and reefer fleets. From the many cars inherited in 1976 to their own purchases over the years, Conrail created a complicated roster that often defies logic. Hopefully these pages will help shed some light on accurately modeling and operating Conrail's many boxcar and reefer classes.To better serve its customers, Conrail divided its freight services into four operating departments called Service Groups. Sometimes these Groups were further subdivided into Business Groups. Boxcars were found in the Automotive Service Group and the Core Service Group.
Core Service Group:
This was Conrail's general freight network, which comprised nearly 60% of all daily Conrail trains. The Core was further subdivided into four Business Groups (BG). Of particular importance to boxcars and reefers is the Food & Agriculture Business Group and the Forest & General Manufactured Business Group.
Food & Agriculture BG: Conrail claimed that it served "more destinations in the heavily populated Northeast than any other railroad, making it a natural transportation choice for moving food products to consumers." Many of the food products this BG shipped included canned goods, perishable produce, sweeteners, orange juice, frozen foods, and similar commodities.
Forest & General Manufactured BG: As can be imagined, this BG was responsible for shipping all manner of products derived from trees--lumber, paper, pulp, newsprint, and so on--as well as general products normally associated with boxcars, such as appliances, automobile tires, clothing, and numerous other commodities.
Automotive Service Group:
While this Group dealt with shipping finished autos via autoracks, it also dealt with shipping automotive parts via boxcar. According to Conrail, they served 59 automotive component suppliers and 23 assembly plants system-wide. These parts were frequently shipped via Conrail's large 60+' boxcars. The Automotive SG was not subdivided into Business Groups.
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