Well,
there's 40', 50', 60', and 87'
there's plate B, plate C, and others
there's with roofwalk and without
there's truck mounted brake cylinders and body mounted
there's brown, red, green, blue......
there's old, new, brand new
there's ones lettered for my favorite railroad and ones not
there's various load ratings
there's single sheathed and double sheathed
there's insulated or not
there's double door or single door
there's centered double door and offset double door
there's same-sized double door and different-sized double door
there's various widths and heights of single and double doors
there's sliding and plug and mixed sliding and plug doors
there's flat roofed and pitched roof
there's different kinds of impressed re-inforcement in the roof panels
You can see where I'm going here. Kalmbach publishes a pretty informative book called "The Model Railroader's Guide to Freight Cars". There's 16 pages discussing boxcars.
Ed
When I think of car types, I usually think of what is referred to in the Official Railway Equipment Register as AAR Mechanical Designation, which refers to the service for which a car is designed---
XM- general merchandise service boxcar
XME (or XMR?)- general merchandise box but equipped with special damage protection or load securing devices.
XA- automobile boxcar (often with double doors and or an end door)]
XAM- automobile boxcar also usable for general merchandise service
XAP- boxcar with special appliances for transporting automobile PARTS, often dedicated to a particular part of auto and auto manufacturer.
XI- insulated dor, usually with a plug door. Does NOT have refrigeration equipment, but some temperature control through insulation. I remember Santa Fe had some XIs that were boxcar brown color but doors were reefer orange, and to me, it looked like they were a halfway or "honorary" reefer. Used for beer, baked goods, etc. I believe DRGW had one the called a "cookie box" because used for baked goods.
XF- designated for food loading only. (kept clean)
XT- box tank-- boxcar superstructure with tank inside it. Occasionally has a different side sill because superstructure is besigned to be removable to service tank. Example- Linde Air Products, National Cylinder Gas
No official designation I know, but I know some railroads had old beatup boxcars dedicated to animal hide service, not to be used for anything else, because the smell would ruin any other cargo.
This is just one dimension along which boxcars can be categorized. Another is type of construction of the car. I model mid- 1950s so I am mostly familiar with:
PS-1 Pullman Standard with welded seams, particular kind of stamped end. Comes in 40' and 50' versions, single and double door, various door widths.
AAR 1937 or AAR 1943
the chicken is ready-- I've gone to eat.
nickl02
It might be easier if you let us know what RR you're modelling or inductries served, etc. There are hundreds of types/combinations. In the 50s and 60s many RRs built their own so its hard to see any sort of standardization other than many used parts and pieces from certain manufacturers (5/4 dreadnought ends, StanRay roofs, etc).
Rick
In the 50's many old boxcars were still used. In MOW there were even a few truss rod boxcars with archbar trucks left. "Postwar Freight Car Fleet" and "Official Railway Equipment Register 1953" from NMRA https://www.nmra.org/ can give you an idea of what was on the rails in the early 50's.
Enjoy
Paul