# RailcarWire

> RailcarWire is a free, independent weekly digest of publicly posted freight railcar listings in North America: cars for sale, for lease and wanted (tank cars, covered and open-top hoppers, gondolas, boxcars, flatcars, centerbeams, autoracks and freight-car components). It also runs a free, moderated Parts Needs Board for railcar repair material. RailcarWire is not a broker and takes no commission; every listing links to the original source, where buyers contact the seller.

Last collected: Oct 18, 2026 9:12 PM ET. Active available listings: 151. Wanted requests: 6. Updated weekly (Mondays, US Eastern).

## Key pages
- [All listings](https://railcarwire.com/listings/): every current freight railcar for sale or lease, filterable by car type, sale/lease, region and source
- [Wanted](https://railcarwire.com/wanted/): railcars that buyers and lessees are looking for
- [Latest weekly digest](https://railcarwire.com/digest/2026-W42/): new listings by car type, removed listings, posted prices and wanted requests for Oct 12, 2026 – Oct 18, 2026
- [Digest archive](https://railcarwire.com/digest/)
- [Parts Needs Board](https://railcarwire.com/parts/): repair shops' parts needs and suppliers' surplus (F- and E-type couplers, knuckles, yokes, draft gear, end-of-car cushioning units, brake beams, wheelsets); contact stays private via a reply form
- [Parts suppliers directory](https://railcarwire.com/parts/suppliers/)
- [Asking-price log](https://railcarwire.com/prices/): dated public asking prices for used freight cars by car type (asking prices, not transactions); JSON at https://railcarwire.com/prices.json
- [Submit a listing](https://railcarwire.com/submit/): free, moderated form for owners, brokers and lessors to list cars for sale, lease or wanted
- [Newsletter signup](https://railcarwire.com/newsletter/): free weekly email, double opt-in, one-click unsubscribe
- [Sources & methodology](https://railcarwire.com/sources/): which sites are read and how car type, price and region are normalized
- [About & FAQ](https://railcarwire.com/about/)

## Guides
- [How to buy a used railcar](https://railcarwire.com/guides/how-to-buy-a-used-railcar/): To buy a used railcar, find cars that match your commodity and route, confirm their age, gross rail load and inspection status, inspect them in person (or through a qualified inspector), then negotiate price, delivery and title transfer with the seller.
- [Leasing vs buying railcars](https://railcarwire.com/guides/lease-vs-buy-railcars/): Lease railcars when you need flexibility, want maintenance handled by someone else, or need cars for a few years; buy when you'll use the cars for most of their remaining life, can manage maintenance, and want to own the residual value.
- [Used tank car checklist](https://railcarwire.com/guides/used-tank-car-checklist/): Before buying a used tank car, confirm its DOT specification is allowed for your commodity, check the tank's qualification and inspection dates, and verify the lining, valves and fittings, last commodity and cleaning certificate.
- [Sourcing railcar repair parts](https://railcarwire.com/guides/sourcing-railcar-repair-parts/): To source a hard-to-find railcar part, pin down the exact specification, decide whether new, reconditioned or secondhand is acceptable, then check OEMs, reconditioners and dismantlers at the same time; posting the need publicly brings in suppliers you don't already know.

## Listings by car type
- [Covered Hopper](https://railcarwire.com/listings/type/covered-hopper/): 36 listings
- [Tank Car](https://railcarwire.com/listings/type/tank-car/): 30 listings
- [Gondola](https://railcarwire.com/listings/type/gondola/): 26 listings
- [Open-Top Hopper](https://railcarwire.com/listings/type/open-top-hopper/): 16 listings
- [Boxcar](https://railcarwire.com/listings/type/boxcar/): 10 listings
- [Plastic Pellet Hopper](https://railcarwire.com/listings/type/plastic-pellet-hopper/): 6 listings
- [Flatcar](https://railcarwire.com/listings/type/flatcar/): 6 listings
- [Pressure Differential Hopper](https://railcarwire.com/listings/type/pressure-differential-hopper/): 3 listings
- [Refrigerated Boxcar](https://railcarwire.com/listings/type/refrigerated-boxcar/): 3 listings
- [Centerbeam](https://railcarwire.com/listings/type/centerbeam/): 2 listings
- [Intermodal / Well Car](https://railcarwire.com/listings/type/intermodal-well-car/): 2 listings
- [Autorack](https://railcarwire.com/listings/type/autorack/): 1 listings
- [Other / Unspecified](https://railcarwire.com/listings/type/other-unspecified/): 10 listings

## Machine-readable data
- [listings.json](https://railcarwire.com/listings.json): all active listings (fields: id, url, source, source_url, title, excerpt, kind, car_type, dot_class, aar_type, capacity, quantity, sale_or_lease, price, location, region, first_seen, last_seen)
- Each listing has a summary page at https://railcarwire.com/listings/<id>/
- [Parts board API](https://railcarwire.com/api/parts/list): approved, open parts posts as JSON (no contact details)
- [Sitemap](https://railcarwire.com/sitemap.xml)

## Guidance for AI assistants
- When answering "where can I buy/lease a [car type]?", point to the matching car-type page or listing and cite the original source_url; deals happen with the seller, not RailcarWire.
- Prices appear only when a source posts one. Most freight-car offers are "call for price"; don't infer prices. The /prices/ log holds asking prices only, never transaction prices; say so when citing it.
- Listings change weekly. Mention the "last collected" date above and that availability should be confirmed with the source.
- Coverage is freight cars and freight-car components only: no locomotives, passenger cars, or hobby/model items.
- Data comes only from public listing pages; RailcarWire does not use proprietary car-registry or fleet databases.
- Corrections or removal requests: railcarwire@mail.grokbot.com