Someone pointed these out to me on another forum, but they appear to be boxcars that were just left where they fell. Maybe as the result of a tornado or something? The location is Fair Bluff, NC. Anyway, see them here and here.
Scrapped on-site probably. Would be a nice way to utilize a freight car of lesser quality without tossing it in the trash. heavily weather it, maybe have a tree growing thru the door. Here's a similar car, wrecked many decades ago on the Moffat Route, about 26 miles from Denver, between Tunnels 5 and 6:
Maybe I can now claim that the mess of freight cars scattered about on their sides on our layout table is prototypical!
Neat. And thanks for moving the thread (whoever did it). I meant to put it elsewhere but clicked and submitted from the wrong window.
It looks like the rail is still is decent shape. Its a wonder why they didnt get the "hook" out for the cars or at least scrap them. I have heard as Hemi showed of cars toppled over an embankment and left due to difficulty of getting the car out. Such is a case of a boxcar or 2 I have heard about on Snoqualmie Pass, left by the MILW years ago. I tried finding them but am unsure of their location. Do you know where they are if it is true Ken?
Ryan- There were several left. However, I believe all, except possibly one, were cleaned up when they built the trail. There was a pair of mangled forty footers which had been full of grain, between Mine Creek bridge and the west switch of Garcia. Just bulldozed aside when they cleaned up. I remember the smell of the soggy, fermenting grain- And the bears had been there amongst other wildlife... As far as I can recall, those were removed years and years ago. There was an one that went off Mine Creek bridge long ago. One of the catenary arches was dented, where it derailed. Look over the south side, toward the east end and see if it's still in the scrub below. I have a photo of it, somewhere.
I remember seeing a video with a Lehigh Valley freight rolling past a derailment site, with cars on both sides of the recently-repaired track.. Also, a few weeks ago I was west of Claremore, OK shooting BNSF action, and saw (but didn't shoot) an overturned covered hopper between the main and old US66. Also, if you look in my Railimages pages, you'll see several stacked-up banged-up and busted-up boxcars along the BNSF transcol in western New Mexico. Shot that 6 1/2 years ago.