Some of the offset double door cars were for automobile loading.
I think that the small lumber doors in the car end were not used to insert long boards. The long board would be inserted through the side doors and then out through the end door far enough to clear the side door. It could then be positioned as needed inside the car.
Mark Vinski
NittanyLion I thought the double doors were easier for forklifts to get into.
I thought the double doors were easier for forklifts to get into.
I believe we're talking about two approaches to double doors: centered of offset.
Both would be easier for forklifts.
Ed
dehusman dh28473 What is the idea of them? Ease of construction, cheaper construction. If you have a single door boxcar, you typically have similar panels to the left and right of the door. If you want larger doors for easier loading, you can create two doors centered on the side of the car, but that would mean you would need to change the design of the panels both to the left and right of the door, redesigning the whole car side. If instead, you just add an extra board to the left of an existing door, then you can keep the side to the right of the door the same and only need to redesign the panels to the left of the door.
dh28473 What is the idea of them?
Ease of construction, cheaper construction. If you have a single door boxcar, you typically have similar panels to the left and right of the door. If you want larger doors for easier loading, you can create two doors centered on the side of the car, but that would mean you would need to change the design of the panels both to the left and right of the door, redesigning the whole car side. If instead, you just add an extra board to the left of an existing door, then you can keep the side to the right of the door the same and only need to redesign the panels to the left of the door.
So NP took the more expensive route, because.....?
dh28473What is the idea of them?
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Wonder what Northern Pacific was thinking when they bought all those 50' double door steel cars with centered doors in the 1950's.
They're especially handy for loading lumber. In the good ol' days, there would be a lumber door, a small door toward the upper part of the car end that sometimes served the same purposed\. Problem was you needed access plus however long the longest piece of lumber being loaded was past the car end to use it to load those long sticks.
With offset doors, you can open the offset door on the other side and poke the sticks out that way while loading through the doors on the opposite side of the car. This allows easy loading of sticks to more than 2/3 of the car length, which covers the vast majority of lengths commonly used.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
What is the idea of them?
Easier loading and/or better load-secure options.