Donated by CSX Transportation in January 2020
Quick Facts:
Model: X67 86’ boxcar
Built: April 1970
Builder: Sam Rea Shops, Hollidaysburg, PA
Past Owners: Penn Central, Conrail, CSX
Current Owner: The Conrail Historical Society
Current Location: Shippensburg, PA
Conrail boxcar #243880 was one of 154 X67-class boxcars built at the Penn Central’s Sam Rea Shops in Hollidaysburg, PA in 1970. These monstrous 86-foot-long cars, the only cars of this size built by a railroad and not by a railcar manufacturer, were designed specifically for auto parts service, carrying large automobile frames and components between domestic car assembly plants. This particular boxcar was constructed in April of 1970 as Penn Central #295633, and it entered service carrying Ford parts based out of Brownstown, Michigan.
On April 1, 1976, it became Conrail #295633, although records indicate that it wore full Penn Central paint into the 1980s. In the late 1980s, the car was one of several X67s that had their load dividers removed. These cars were renumbered to the #24XXXX series, and this car was finally repainted in Conrail colors as #243880. Records indicate that this car was assigned to Chrysler stampings service in August of 1995, first at Twinsburg, Ohio and then at a different plant, where it remained when Conrail was split up in 1999. The car was conveyed to CSX and restenciled as NYC #243880. It was later transferred to auto parts service for General Motors, based out of Parma, Ohio.
The #243880 was donated to The Conrail Historical Society by CSX Transportation in January of 2020 to become the Conrail Museum. It was moved to the museum site in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania on August 22, 2021, and it is one of the largest railcars to move by road in North America. View a video of the move below, or learn more about the Conrail Museum by clicking here!
The car was fully repainted to Conrail colors in September of 2021. On February 1, 2022, it was moved to its final resting place on a piece of panel track alongside the Cumberland Valley Rail Trail!
The car was renumbered to #243880 by Conrail in the late 1980s, and retained that number under CSX. NYC #243880 was being delivered to The CRHS in Chambersburg, PA on January 16, 2020. (Jim Stanton photo)
The interior of the #243880 after delivery to The CRHS in Chambersburg, PA on January 20, 2020. This is now covered by the interior walls of the museum. (Jim Stanton photo)
Over a year into Conrail, the #295633 is still in full PC paint and a long way from home. The car was spotted in Cajon, CA on September 30, 1977. Note the “BRO” service stencil above the reporting mark that designates this car as being in Ford service in Brownstown, Michigan. (Ron Hawkins photo)