Short Hi-Cube Boxcar

AZER 77023 is an ex SP 40' HyCube. I always thought these were odd, with no practical use when Athearn came out with them. Originally built for appliance loading, Arizona Central (AZER, not ARZC) made good use of them hauling copper ingots.

The following information regarding handling short hi-cube cars in New England came my way following a Kevin Smith Freight Car Friday e-mail. I though you might find interesting. Lets hear what Scott J. Whitney had to say and thank Scott for sharing...George Dutka 

One day while working Keene, NH we had one short hi-cube come in from the B&M at Brattleboro bound for Keene. The only thing was that we picked it up at night and because it was a miserable foggy night we did not see that it was a tall car. We got to Keene just fine but the next day it was a bit of a surprise and a head scratching as to how it had cleared the lowest bridge, a road overpass in West Swanzey. It got unloaded and of course the springs expanded and suddenly we had an even taller car. On the return we got to West Swanzey and if it hadn't been for the muddy sunken track, we would have been badly screwed. The car cleared by less than 1" on the way through at a dead slow crawl I might add...Scott