Book excerpt: An illustrated guide to the wide variety of freight car equipment of the railroads that have and continue to service North America, this book covers each type of freight car and what it was designed to haul, as well as the equipment necessary to keep them all ‘on track.’ Equipment designs are based on the type of commodity that would be shipped. For example, 24-foot box cars are designed to handle 75 to 85 tons of iron ore. High cubic capacity covered hopper cars are designed for handling grain traffic, while lower cubic capacity is designed for handling heavy commodities, such as cement. See the changes for each type through time, like the early Refrigerated Cars that required ice which have evolved into today’s much larger Mechanical Reefers. Great book for modelers.