How to Draw Boxcars

Ride the rails in your imagination -- follow the easy, step-by-step instructions on this page to draw your own boxcars.

How to Draw Boxcars
Draw this boxcar using the easy directions on this page.

In this section, we'll show you how to draw the above boxcar. Either draw it freehand while looking at your computer monitor or print out this page to get a closer look at each step.

Follow the red lines in each illustration to learn exactly what to draw in that step. The lines drawn in previous steps are shown in gray. Here, we'll show you an illustration of each step and then give you a description of how to draw it.

How to Draw Boxcars: Begin the boxcar.

Step 1: Start the boxcar with one large rectangle. Add long, skinny rectangles to the top and bottom of the main rectangle (they should be a little longer than the main rectangle).

How to Draw Boxcars: Add a door to the boxcar.

Step 2: Draw a large rectangle in the center section of the car for the doorway. Sketch a thin, vertical rectangle on both sides of the door and another at both ends of the car. Add an angularly shaped line underneath the boxcar to create the bottom of the car.

How to Draw Boxcars: Add wheels to the boxcar.

Step 3: Draw four wheels made up of circles within circles. Add four more thin vertical rectangles, two at the front end and two at the back. Sketch two small rectangles at the bottom of the center section, and add a rectangle within a rectangle to the middle of the car.

How to Draw Boxcars: Add details to the boxcar.

Step 4: Draw thin, diagonal rectangles in each section of the side (except in the middle). Connect the wheels with an axle structure as shown. Sketch two triangles and a rectangle in each axle to add detail. Finish this step with two coupling forms, one at each end of the boxcar. The coupling forms look like the end of a wrench.

How to Draw Boxcars: Add detail to the boxcar door.

Step 5: Fill in the center section with horizontal lines to create panel detail. Add a few more detail lines in the center and at the ends of the bottom part of the car.

How to Draw Boxcars: Trace the final drawing with a felt-tip pen.

Step 6: Use a felt-tip pen to trace the lines you want to keep. Erase any extra pencil lines.

Want to add even more variety to your train drawings? Go to our next page to learn how to draw tanker cars.

Want more help learning to draw? See: