QUICK FACTS

Model: 50’ XAF10X boxcar
Built: November 1974
Builder: ACF Industries, Milton, PA
Past Railroad Owners: Railbox, Seaboard System, CSX Transportation
Current Owner: TOYX, Inc.

Boxcar No. 10000 was built in November of 1974 by ACF Industries at their plant in Milton, Pennsylvania as Railbox No. 10000 (class XAF10X, ACF lot 11-06829). This 50-foot boxcar has a unique history as the very first of a fleet of tens of thousands of bright yellow boxcars that have roamed North American rails from the mid-1970s to the present.

The American Railroad Box Car Company (Railbox) was formed on January 11, 1974 as a subsidiary of Trailer Train Corporation to address a nationwide boxcar shortage on railroads. A private cooperative jointly owned by many of the nation’s railroads, Railbox’s goal was to create a “pool” of boxcars that could be used on any railroad, at any time, for any commodity. To accomplish this, a standard design was needed that could travel on any rail line in the country. The first 1,000 cars built to this design, RBOX Nos. 10000-10999, began rolling out of ACF Industries’ factory in Milton, Pennsylvania in October of 1974. Financing for the new equipment was provided by 10 of the participating railroads and some private investment firms.

The first car from this series, No. 10000, was selected as a test bed for a non-standard center plate that could be incorporated into later Railbox designs. The car was given its own class (XAF10X) to distinguish it from the 999 other XAF10 cars in the number series, and this additional feature added at the factory delayed the car’s delivery by a month (until November of 1974). The No. 10000’s center plate was deemed successful, and tens of thousands more boxcars were subsequently constructed with this improved design for Railbox and for other railroads.

The Railbox plan worked, and by the late 1970s, enough Railbox cars were constructed and in service that the bright yellow cars were found on nearly every freight train throughout North America. The concept was so successful that it was later expanded to gondolas, flatcars, and other railroad equipment needed in the industry.

By the early 1980s, the nationwide boxcar shortage had been alleviated (largely as a result of Railbox’s fleet), and Railbox found itself with a surplus of cars. The company’s earliest orders of boxcars were therefore reassigned to the railroads that financed them, and the first 1,000 cars (which had originally been financed by the Seaboard Coast Line) were transferred to its corporate successor, the Seaboard System, in 1984. The cars were renumbered to SBD Nos. 129700-130699, and RBOX No. 10000 became SBD No. 129700.

In 1986, the Seaboard System was merged into CSX Transportation, and the car became CSXT No. 129700. After 35 additional years of service, CSXT No. 129700 – the very first car constructed for Railbox, and one that helped to pioneer the Railbox design – was donated by CSX Transportation in November of 2021 for preservation and interpretation. It was moved to Port Jervis, New York on December 12, 2021. This car represents the thousands of Railbox boxcars that traveled through Port Jervis regularly from the 1970s through today.

TTX Company (the owner of Railbox) declined to allow the use of the Railbox logo in the restoration of this historic car. Therefore, the car was instead restored to a unique railroad safety scheme in the spring and summer of 2023 as the Eagle Scout project of Daniel Svoboda (Troop 38, Warwick, NY) in partnership with Operation Lifesaver. It is now used for display and parts/materials storage to support the ongoing restoration efforts at the Port Jervis railyard.