Those Lowly Boxcars

The vintage railway equipment seen in this post can be found at two separate locations in Medicine Hat Alberta. They’re lowly boxcars (the crazy things that fascinate us) and once a common sight on the rails. Leading obscure workaday lives they hauled less than glamorous loads and numbered in the many tens of thousands here in Canada. Be it manufactured goods, building materials…you name it…and in the old days bulk grain or even dirty old coal, they carried it all. As long as it fit and needed only modest protection, this was the solution.

Some boxcars were for general loading, so anything and everything, whereas others were restricted to specific commodities or groups of like commodities depending on how clean or dirty the load. Nowadays, containers are used in their place, so their ranks have thinned dramatically. Still, they have a place and you’ll see the odd one from time to time when watching a passing freight (like anyone does that, wink, wink).

These examples are all connected to the Medalta Pottery Museum with a couple held in a city storage yard awaiting the next move. At this location, it’s #80356 (the green one) built in the mid-1960s and used for hauling newsprint. Beside, it’s #21712, a grain boxcar from the 1950s. Note the Medicine Hat Transit buses seen in behind. These two cars used to belong to a railway museum in High River Alberta before coming here.

At Medalta proper it’s an oldie, #403618, from the early 1940s and in behind (and something also once commonly seen) caboose, #436482 at over a century old. These sit in front of the former factory (the firm made all manner of stoneware – plates and cups, crocks, etc). In business from the 1910s and into the 1950s the complex is now an amazing time capsule you can visit. These cars used to be located in a city park not far away, before coming here.

All the railcars seen are ex-Canadian Pacific Railway. Thanks for your help on this, Jason.

From that same weekend adventure…
Medicine Hat Then & Now – Parkland Apts, Retro Motels: Medicine Hat Alberta and Medicine Hat Then & Now – Ogilvie’s.

Short Subjects: reports that are short and sweet in nature. It’s stuff interesting enough in itself, but not deserved of the full on BIGDoer.com treatment. Think silly little snippets, vignettes and likewise things of that sort and you’ll be in and out in no time.

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Date of adventure: February, 2020.
Location: Medicine Hat, AB.

There’s a couple at the city storage yard.

It’s CPR #80356 right.

And left it’s CPR #21712 (note transit buses in back).

A boxcar (+ caboose) at the Medalta Museum.