MONTREAL (Dec. 19, 2002) — Canadian National said it will acquire 350 new boxcars and 200 new centrebeam flatcars next year for hauling paper and lumber.

The high-cube 50-foot boxcars will be used for newsprint and fine papers, the railroad said. The 73-foot centerbeam cars will be used for lumber. Each has a gross rail load capacity of 286,000 pounds.

CN will build 100 of the boxcars at its Transcona Shops in Winnipeg, the first such construction program in decades. The remaining 250 boxcars will be made by Trinity Industries. The centerbeams will be built by the Greenbrier Companies’ TrentonWorks.

“The availability of high-capacity, easy-to-load freight cars is critical to the needs of CN’s service-sensitive forest products customers,” said Stan Jablonski, CN’s vice-president, forest products. “CN is the largest carrier of forest product commodities in North America and has grown its forest products market share on the strength of its highly-successful scheduled railroad services. The new rolling stock will enhance our forest products fleet, making CN’s customers more competitive in their end markets.”