Cattle Car

Javier De La Torre: "We've got a breach, AG-SEC, cattle car."

Bennett Knox: "We have a breach, AG-SEC, cattle car."

― Javier De La Torre and Bennett Knox in Prepare to Brace

The Cattle Car is one of the cars of AG-SEC that was used for milking and butchering cows.

History[]

Background[]

The cattle car was built and loaded with cows (numbered on their heads) prior to departure. Silva, Bolger and at least one other worked as butchers.

When Sean Wise is murdered, his limbs are cut off and sent to the butcher's compartment in the cattle car, where Silva cut one of the hands open to retrieve an RFID chip to trade. He later hides it in a vent in the cold room.

Throughout the Series[]

Layton and Till, on the investigation of Sean Wise's murder, visit the butchers, but are refused entry by Silva as they are butchering cows today, unless they bring the notary. A little while later, an avalanche is caused by the speed of Snowpiercer. The hit to the train first sends the butchers flying, the Captive bolt pistol in Bolger's hands hits the window, cracking a small hole in it. The avalanche debris then reaches the the cattle car, sending the butchers and the cows flying again and breaking the window completely, unleashing the freezing air from the outside into the car. The last cows on Earth and the butchers were all frozen to death.^[1]

Later, a few Jackboots and Brakemen arrive at the scene, including Jackboot Clifford. Bennett and Melanie go inside the breached section of the cattle car in EVA suits, surveying the damage. Layton and Till aren't let into the cold room by Clifford, until Breachman Boscovic arrives, which then prompts Clifford to let Layton and Till into the cold room for 2 minutes. In the cold room, Layton discovers an unscrewed vent and secretly grabs himself something to break him out of his cell later as Till takes off the vent cover. To her horror, she finds the cut off limbs. They then leave the cold room and move a car down, having found their evidence.

After investigating the damage, Melanie and Bennett emerge from the breached section. Boscovic breathes in and out the cold air, everything in the butchers section developing ice as the door opens, until it closes. Melanie tells Boscovic that they can reverse speed by 10%, but Bojan objects, however, remarking that he needs 25%, but Melanie remarks that they can’t make up the speed again or the battery power and decides 12% is the maximum. Rolling blackouts are expected in the tail to make up for the power loss.

A little while later, multiple maintenance workers arrive at the scene, dropping off tools from the sub-train for when damage is repaired by Boscovic.

Technology[]

The car has several bulkheads and big doors separating it into multiple sections.

There is a cold room where most of the beef is stored, as well as 2 small fridges at the uptrain entrance.

Interior[]

The walls are utilitarian. All throughout the car are bags strapped to the utilitarian ceiling filled with a green substance, attached together with green hoses. On each bulkhead rests some tools and a shovel hung up. The walkway in-between where the cows are placed is covered in wooden planks. Railed stalls litters both sides of the car, where the cows are strapped usually to, on the fencing are buckets of food and water. Where the cows rest, the floor is all dirt or manure. A few buckets also sit by the fencing. The windows on either side of the car are different; with the right hand side having big windows to let sun-light in, while the left hand side has tiny, circular windows.

Buther's compartment[]

The butcher's compartment is an area at the down-train end of the cattle car where the butchers prepare the beef from the cows. The entrance is more utilitarian than the main area of the butcher's compartment, having 2 fridges on either side and a door with a window that is closed when it's butchering time. There are also a few signs reading restricted area and a clipboard on the wall. While still utilitarian like the rest of the cattle car, the butcher's compartment is a bit more inviting, having brick decor on the walls of the main area. Knives and other kitchen utensils litter the walls and the steel tables. There is also a mechanical weight scale for weighing, a sink for washing the beef and at least 1 chair. On the bulkhead separating the butcher's compartment from the rest of the cattle car are 4 switches and 2 warning signs.

Cold Room[]

The Cold Room, also known as the meat locker (butcher's compartment blueprints in the intro) or the freezer (by Till), stores most of the beef butchered by the butchers. On the outside, the Cold Room is a bulging room in the butcher's compartment with a big metal door that opens outward. On the inside, there are multiple racks that store the beef, as well as a cart for smaller pieces of beef and 2 hooks for big beef.

Exterior[]

The exterior of the cattle car is nearly identical to that of a standard 3rd class car, but with different windows. On the right hand side are the big windows that let more sun-light in and on the left hand side are the much smaller, circular windows.

Appearances[]

Appearance	EP2	EP3	EP7
Season 1	✔	✔
Season 2
Season 3
Season 4
✔ = Appeared		Did Not Appear	F = Flashback
Note: Appearances for the interior of the car only.

Trivia[]

The Cattle Car is a restricted/limited area.^[2]
After the cows extinction, Melanie replaced cow poop with goat farts to produce methane.^[3]
- As Melanie mentions the cow poop has been replaced with goat farts to produce methane, there is probably at least one other cattle car where the goats were kept. This could mean there are even more cattle cars where pigs are kept.
There are bovine cultures on Big Alice, which means cows could be brought back from extinction if humanity survives at New Eden.^[4]
The car's number may be C0592.^[5]
The set for the cattle car was re-used from the unaired pilot episode titled 'All That Remains.'^[6]
Cow No. 18 was a joke at the art department during the making of the show and was featured in the unaired pilot episode.^[6]
The railed stalls can be seen retracting into the floor when the avalanche debris hits the cattle car, even though in the next shot they're back at the normal position. This is likely a CGI goof left over from the unaired pilot, as in a leaked screenshot, the railed stalls are missing.^[7]
- The shot at 27:34 in the same episode is also taken from the pilot (note the different door that would have led to the meat locker car in the pilot).