Off set door boxcars

[grabirons]

What's is or what was the original purpose of offset door box cars? I'm mainly interested in knowing the purpose of 50 foot offset box cars, but feel free to post about others as well. Were the doors offset to line up with the original dock doors at customers where 40 ft cars once were spotted? I've seen photos of 40 ft box cars with the offset sliding door where the offset door is about equal to the end length of the car, sounds confusing I know. What about those Auto Parts box cars with quad doors? Why were there four sets of doors spaced apart as they were? Were they spaced that way to line up with dock doors? Feel free to post any information or pictures as I may add some links here as well, thank you.

[edwardsutorik]

May 11, 2022 16:18:31 GMT -8 grabirons said:

What's is or what was the original purpose of offset door box cars? I'm mainly interested in knowing the purpose of 50 foot offset box cars,...

I think to make it easier to load automobiles. And any other thing about that size.

Were the doors offset to line up with the original dock doors at customers where 40 ft cars once were spotted?

Nope

I've seen photos of 40 ft box cars with the offset sliding door where the offset door is about equal to the end length of the car, sounds confusing I know.

Not following you on that, but door arrangements are chosen for the work the car is expected to do.

What about those Auto Parts box cars with quad doors? Why were there four sets of doors spaced apart as they were?

The big 85 footers were arranged to suit the car user. Some wanted the doors one way, some a different way.

Were they spaced that way to line up with dock doors?

Not really. The docks were made to fit the cars, more. Once a particular car design was standardized, the docks had then to match it.


Ed

[simulatortrain]

Often it had to do with securing a particular load. You can block a load against the wall or a plug door, but not a sliding door. If the doors are offset so that only one of the two "overlaps" across both sides, then there's less dead space from the perspective of load securement.

[edwardsutorik]

May 12, 2022 4:23:11 GMT -8 simulatortrain said:

Often it had to do with securing a particular load. You can block a load against the wall or a plug door, but not a sliding door.

So in the older style of offset sliding double doors, there's less of the car length with opposing walls, so there's less car length for blocking loads.

If the doors are offset so that only one of the two "overlaps" across both sides, then there's less dead space from the perspective of load securement.

[/quote]

I believe that would be more dead space, not less. See my earlier comment. Yes, you can't block for the opposing doors. But neither can you block for the non-opposing doors, because there's not another wall to block against. This applies only to double sliders, of course. That's the beauty of the plug/slide. The plug door acts like another piece of the wall so it can be blocked against. And yet it can be opened as necessary.

Now, if you have lading anchors in the walls of the cars, things can change. Then you can anchor to only one wall. I have the impression that side lading anchors became common after the arrival of plug doors, and thus could not have been a door location reason for double sliding door cars.



Ed