Rail-car orders (and projections for same) generally offer clues about the rail industry's near-term health, if not prospects. Witness a couple of prognosticators' recent projections and why they've made them. After projecting 58,500 deliveries for 2012, Rail Theory Forecasts L.L.C. (RTF) expected as of November to see a steep drop in deliveries in 2013 to about 42,000 cars - unless the fourth quarter picks up, big time, writes RTF President and Progressive Railroading columnist Toby Kolstad in his column this month (see page 15). Aside from orders related to the energy boom (small covered hoppers for industrial sand and crude oil tank cars), orders for most car types really haven't recovered from the last recession's lows.
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机译：铁路车辆的订单（以及对铁路车辆的预测）通常提供有关铁路行业近期健康状况的线索（如果没有前景的话）。见证几个预测者的近期预测以及他们做出这些预测的原因。在预计2012年交付58,500架后，Rail Theory Forecasts L.L.C. RTF总裁兼进步铁路专栏作家托比·科尔斯塔德（Toby Kolstad）在本月的专栏中写道：（RTF）预计截至11月，2013年的交付量将急剧下降至约42,000辆汽车-除非第四季度回升，否则将是一个大时间。 。除了与能源繁荣相关的订单（用于工业砂和原油罐车的小型带盖料斗）外，大多数汽车类型的订单实际上都没有从上次衰退的低点恢复。
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