Car dimensions

[CShaveRR]

Your typical 40-foot box car was 40'6" inside.
50'6" for the typical 50-foot box car.
60'8" for the typical 60-foot box car.
86'6" for virtually all of the hi-cube box cars.
These lengths accounted for the majority of plain box cars, regardless of who built them. There aren't many that stray too far from that (there are a few orders of box cars with a length in excess of 52 feet out there, but no cars I'm aware of with lengths of (for example) 55 feet, 65'6" (common gondola length), 71' or 73' (Center beam lengths), or 89 feet (auto rack length).

Gondolas are even more uniform--just about every "typical" gondola built in the past several years, by at least three different carbuilders, has an inside length of 52 feet 6 inches, and a capacity of 2743 cubic feet (which suggests that width and height are all the same, too).

Coal gons and hoppers: Interesting aspect here--without fail, all modern aluminum coal gondolas and hoppers have an outside length (over pulling faces) of 53'1". Why? That's what the rotary dumpers accommodate.

Long flat cars (for piggyback and auto racks) have also had a consistent length regardless of carbuilder. In the 1950s and early 1960s it was 85 feet platform length. This was supplanted by 89 feet in the mid-1960s, and 89'4 in about 1970. Nearly all of the auto racks and old conventional piggyback cars you see now will show that 89'4" length. There are a few auto racks out there with a length of 90'0", but these were built on old 89'4" flats, and I don't think the length of the platform has been extended--definitely not the exterior length of around 95 feet.

Covered hopper cars and tank cars will show the widest variance in length from one builder to the next. At one time, nearly everybody was building a covered hopper with a capacity of 4750 cubic feet, and lengths ranged from 58-plus feet to just over 60 feet.

Tank cars have some variation, but are surprisingly similar. A 20,000-gallon (or thereabouts) car built by Trinity Industries will be 48'11" over pulling faces, while the same type of car built by Union Tank will be 49'5". When it comes to the next size up (around 23,000 gallons), both builders agree--55'5"! The trend in tank cars is to get more capacity into shorter length (by increasing diameter to fit very tightly within clearances), so Union Tank's 30,000-gallon tank cars have decreased in length from 69 feet to something over 66 feet.

This concludes today's lecture.
Other Carl

[alton6]

Thanks for all the responses.

It's certainly logical that shippers would speak of dimensions differently than operations people.

Not having immediate access to the Equipment Register, I'm guessing that not many (for example) boxcars are exactly 40 feet or 50 feet or any such even measure inside, or outside for that matter. Even modern equipment must vary quite a bit in size. Correct?

Carl

[markpierce]

Some box cars had a small hatch at one end so very long/narrow objects could be loaded. Some even had an opening end so VERY large objects, like a bus, could be loaded.

[Anonymous]

I don't have any trouble remembering the 86-footers. I can see entire trains of them every day on the NS "Auto Parts Conveyor" through north-central Indiana, the old Wabash main line from Detroit to St. Louis.

[CShaveRR]

They vary, depending on the length of the well. Below are some typical lengths, taken by looking at the DTTX cars in The Official Railway Equipment Register.:

40-foot wells: 266'2"
45-foot wells: 281'2"
48-foot wells: 291'6" to 305'8"
I'm not sure whether there are any five-unit cars with 53-foot wells; they'd probably be in the 325-to-330-foot range.
Cars with 45-foot wells are rare, and a lot of the cars with 48-foot wells have been shortened to 40-foot wells.

[Kevin C. Smith]

As long as we're talking car dimensions, could someone tell me the overall length (over coupler face, if possible) of the common 5 unit articulated double stack cars? I haven't been able to spot anything on passing trains and I'm too old to go prowling around sidings or near yards where one might be sitting idle, in order to check more closely.

Many thanks!

[CShaveRR]

Oh, we always refer to box cars as being "50-footers", "60-footers", or whatever. Nobody seems to remember "86-footers" accurately except for me, though.

Carl (no, I'm not talking to myself), you should get hold of an Official Railway Equipment Register at a train show, used bookstore, library, or whatever. The older you get, the more you'll see the old 40-foot box cars and how they were treated.

An external length is not stencilled on the side of the cars, but interior dimensions are. The extreme width (exterior) is also indicated on the car side. For modern cars it's almlst always 10'8"--never more than that, and less if the car is longer than 60 feet or so.
Height to the eaves and the point of extreme width are given on the sides of the cars, too--for some reason the height above the rail is not--unless you're talking about those 20'2" auto racks.

If you're wondering about any car you see today, just plug the number in at:

http://www.bnsf.com/cws/eqpumlerpublic/

They made it accessible--I'm sure they won't mind!

Another Carl

[Anonymous]

My apologies - I stated "outside" coupler pulling faces - the correct term is "over."
Adding a thought: thinking back, I don't remember operating people ever referring to inside length when talking length of cars - there was no reason to!

[Anonymous]

When speaking of car length in the operations world, we're talking about length outside coupler pulling faces. Add this figure for all cars (and engines) of a train and you have a good idea of how long a train is. ("Will it fit in "X" siding or on "Y" track?") There are significant variables between outside and inside dimensions - depending on how a car is built and equipped. The "Official Railway Equipment Register" (published monthly and filed quarterly as a tarrif with the STB and the Canadian Transportation Board) provides reference. Need to order a boxcar? Be sure to specify (at least) the inside dimensions you need.

[Anonymous]

Car length is a strange thing I've seen two cars that stated the same length on the frame reading be up tp to two foot difference lol so its a guessing game sometimes

[jchnhtfd]

Basically, yes. I don't think I've ever seen the dimension over coupler faces (or similar) printed on a car, though. I'm not sure anyone really worries about it!

[alton6]

Since the length of various types of car vary quite a bit, do individual cars have a stated length for coupled service printed somewhere on the car? Or, is something that is noted only on the documentation for the car?

And, going back to my original question: A 40 foot or 86 foot or whatever designated car is really not 40 feet or 86 feet long. it is actually 44 feet long, give or take. They are just called by that footage because that inside dimension is the cargo space. Is my thinking correct?

[Anonymous]

alton6 queries:

"How much is added to a car for drawbars, couplers, etc. to be able to figure the total length of a consist?"

It'll vary. I don't have any data close at hand, but it's probably about four feet or so for cars with normal drawbars; cars with cushion underframes or end-of-car cushioning will, of course, be much longer.

Old Timer

[alton6]

Old Timer,

Thanks. So, I guess you are saying that this is a maximum inside length dimension--a cargo measurement. How much is added to a car for drawbars, couplers, etc. to be able to figure the total length of a consist?

[Anonymous]

These dimensions refer to the distance between the end linings (36', 40', 50', 60', 70', 86', etc.

Unless it's an all-door car, you probably can't get anything 40' long into a 40' car; it won't fit through the door.

Old Timer

[alton6]

My apologies if this subject is well worn here.

When rolling stock size is mentioned--say a 40 foot boxcar--what exactly does this measurement indicate? Is it:

A....the inside maximum cargo length.

B....the outside length of the car (box) body.

C....the distance between coupler faces (sounds likely to me).

D...._____.

Also, how is width stated?

Thanks,

Carl