Background & History

In the late 1960’s Class RBa box cars were built by stretching 40 foot box cars to 50 feet. They then insulated the box car (non refrigerated) to protect the product from extreme heat changes, and added newer style doors called plug doors. The plug doors when closed, slid into the car body to form a better seal against the elements. 

Class RBLa box cars were rebuilt and stretched from older class XMy boxcars. The next logical step in the development of boxcars was adding load restraining devices. The “DF” designation on the outside of the cars indicated that a boxcar was equipped with the load restraining devices. The large Reading banner was a large part of the Readings advertising campaign. The “L” in the class number indicates the car was equipped with the load restraining devices. RBLa boxcars were numbered 17000 thru 17064.