# Boxcars711 Old Time Radio Pod

Official URL: https://boxcars711.podbean.com  
Category: Curated Podcast Network · Operator: Boxcars711 (Independent Podcast Host) · Founded: 2009  
Benchmark Card: https://www.radiologs.org/data/providers/boxcars711.md · JSON: https://www.radiologs.org/data/providers/boxcars711.json

## Summary

Enthusiast-hosted OTR podcast focusing heavily on detective, police procedural, and western series (*Dragnet*, *Yours Truly Johnny Dollar*, *Broadway Is My Beat*, *Fort Laramie*). Delivers fast Podbean CDN playback and multi-part serial runs, but covers a small genre subset without transcripts or primary newspaper verification.

## Pricing & Access Regime

- **Model:** free ($0 / Free)
- **Monthly / Annual USD:** $0/mo · $0/yr
- **Billing Note:** Free podcast RSS feed and Podbean web player.
- **Free Tier / Access Note:** ~2,400 crime, mystery, and western episodes available via RSS.

## Catalog & Technical Metrics (Audited 2026-11-01)

- **Playable Broadcasts:** 2,450
- **Catalog Broadcast Records:** 2,450
- **Distinct Series:** 160
- **Full-Length WebVTT (.vtt) Subtitles:** 0
- **Date Span:** 1937–1962
- **Online Streamable Share:** 100%
- **Median / Max Bitrate:** 96 kbps / 128 kbps
- **Audio Formats:** MP3 (64–128 kbps)
- **1 Item / Episode (IA + Stremio SDK UUID):** No

## Features (14 Audited Capabilities)

**Yes (5/14):** 100% Free Catalog ($0/mo), Instant Play (No Account Login), Zero Mid-Roll or Display Ads, Per-Series Podcast RSS Feeds, Sequential Multi-Part Serial Arcs

**No (9/14):** Public Recording UUID / RID Index, SHA-256 Audio Stream Deduplication, Schema.org RadioEpisode JSON-LD, Public JSON API & /llms.txt, 100% Full-Length .vtt Subtitles, Primary Newspaper & Trade Log Scans, Original Studio Broadcast Scripts, Per-Episode Actor ↔ Character Graph, 16" ET Disc / Lossless FLAC Streams

## Verified Specification Evidence

- **Per-Series Podcast RSS Feeds:** Single chronological podcast feed (~3,400 episodes) with host commentary.
## Provenance & Archival Methodology

- **Primary Master Source:** Collector MP3 transfers with host spoken intros
- **Air Date Methodology:** Collector log dates cited in episode titles and host intro
- **Cast Attribution Method:** Occasional lead actor mention in show notes; no structured character schema
- **Caption / Subtitle Engine:** None

## Capability Scores & Quoted Evidence

- **primary_source_verification** (partial, score 55/100): Uses OTRR and collector log dates; generally reliable on 1950s CBS crime shows but lacks primary newspaper citations.
  - Evidence: "Post titles include air date and episode number drawn from collector logs."
- **cast_credit_accuracy** (none, score 28/100): Host mentions starring actors verbally, without structured per-episode cast/character metadata.
  - Evidence: "Show notes list series title, episode title, and air date without structured cast tables."
- **vtt_transcripts** (none, score 0/100): No WebVTT transcripts.
  - Evidence: "MP3 podcast enclosures only; no `.vtt` caption files."
- **master_provenance** (partial, score 58/100): Selects clean collector transfers (64–128 kbps MP3), though original disc lineage is not recorded.
  - Evidence: "Standardized 64–128 kbps MP3 podcast encodes hosted on Podbean CDN."
- **serial_continuity** (verified, score 78/100): Frequently posts complete 5-part *Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar* and *Seven-Eleven* serial arcs in contiguous order.
  - Evidence: "Dedicated to posting complete 5-part Bob Bailey and Mandel Kramer Johnny Dollar serial arcs in sequence."
- **open_api_export** (partial, score 65/100): Open RSS 2.0 podcast feed with direct MP3 URLs, but no relational JSON API or `/llms.txt`.
  - Evidence: "Standard Podbean RSS 2.0 XML feed accessible to any podcast client or script."
- **ad_free_playback** (verified, score 88/100): Free podcast feed without paywalls.
  - Evidence: "Free public podcast feed."
- **dedup_integrity** (partial, score 65/100): Curated single-host feed avoids mass duplicate dumps.
  - Evidence: "Manually scheduled episode releases."

## Limitations, Trade-Offs & Gotchas

- **[WARNING] Narrow Genre Scope (~2,450 Crime/Western Episodes):** Covers roughly 2% of surviving OTR broadcasts, omitting comedy, variety, daytime soaps, news, and prestige drama anthologies.

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*Audited by [radio logs](https://www.radiologs.org/) — Built by [The Archive of American Radio (radioindex.org)](https://www.radioindex.org/). Held to the same primary-evidence audit rules across all 22 platforms.*