Guides
Field guides
How to read a freight car: stencils, reporting marks, common car types, placards, and how a sighting is logged.
Scan a freight car · Look up a mark
Reading the car
The lettering on the side, and what a reporting mark is for.
- How to read freight car stencilsA walk along the side of a freight car: the reporting mark and number, the weight block, the dates, the car-type code, the clearance plate, and the brake panel.
- What a reporting mark tells youThe reporting mark is the short code that identifies the car's registered owner. An X on the end usually means that owner is not a railroad.
Car types
The shapes you can pick out from the crossing.
- Covered hopperA covered hopper is a closed car with roof hatches and bottom gates, for dry bulk that has to stay dry.
- Tank carA tank car carries liquid or gas in a tank. The specification stencil describes the tank. The placard describes the load.
- BoxcarA boxcar is a house car with side doors, for freight that needs a roof and walls.
- GondolaA gondola is an open tub: fixed sides and ends, no roof, for loads that can live in the weather.
- Open hopperAn open hopper unloads through bottom gates. Coal, stone, and ore are the classic loads.
- Flatcar and centerbeamA flatcar is a deck on trucks. A centerbeam is a flatcar with a tall spine for packaged lumber.
- AutorackAn autorack is a vehicular flat with a rack of decks, usually enclosed, for finished vehicles.
- Intermodal well carA well car carries containers in a tub between the trucks, often stacked two high.
In the field
Placards, and how a sighting is logged.
- Tank car placards and hazmat numbersA placard is the diamond that identifies the hazard of a load. This page is the short version, and it points at the placard notes.
- How to log a sightingA sighting is a note that you saw a car. Public pages show it a day later, rounded to about 10 km, with your name left off.