Chicago rail yard
The April activation level of 18,000 stored railcars compared with 31,000 brought out of storage during March and 21,000 in February, the Association of American Railroads said. The year began with 28.2 percent of the continent’s car fleet parked, or 439,631 units.
Railroads and other equipment owners idled so many railcars during the two-year recession that many are still sitting on rail sidings, at train yards and other locations throughout North America.
Peak car storage was 31.9 percent of the car fleet in June and July 2009, when total parked units topped 500,000. But nearly 134,000 have come out of storage over the past 10 months, the ARA said.
From the Journal of Commerce, May 13, 2010