As early as the 1830s the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad had invented the two-truck car. The design consisted of two sets of trucks or wheel housings, that held two axles each, for a total of eight wheels on each car. Springs were mounted in-between each side of the truck assembly. This configuration is commonly seen on today's freight cars. The two-truck cars became quite popular because of their ability to evenly distribute the weight, handle heavier loads, provide better stability, and offer improved cushioning for freight.
On a normal freight train, this boxcar built in April, 1978, would not have been placed immediately in front of this caboose. The trainman sitting in the caboose's cupola would not have been able to view the train in front of him because this boxcar is an extra-tall version so it could carry rolls of newsprint - 1 meter in diameter and weighing 800-900 pounds. Cars such as these would have been a frequent sight alongside paper mills and buildings where large printing presses were located.
All freight cars display weight data that refers to the weight of the freight car and its contents:
CAPY - the intended load-carrying capacity of the car to the nearest 1,000 pounds
LD LMT - 155,900 pounds or almost 78 tons - the maximum weight of cargo that can be carried by the car to the nearest 100 pounds
LT WT - 64,100 pounds or about 32 tons - the weight of the car when it is empty
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