Trinity Rail has 40 foot boxcars on its website.
"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)
Big Boy Forever Aside from the obvious old wooden boxcars with ice block doors on top, what was the year obvious visible construction changes on the boxcars took place?
Aside from the obvious old wooden boxcars with ice block doors on top, what was the year obvious visible construction changes on the boxcars took place?
The answer to this question is a textbook about 2" thick. Maybe you could narrow your questions down to a certain type or era of car.
Boxcars with "ice block doors" aren't boxcars, they are refrigerator cars or "reefers". A totally different type of cars.
When was the cut off year that 40 foot boxcars were declared obsolete to be used on railroads, and 50 footers took over?
Never. There was no 'declaration " that they were obsolete. Some 40 foot cars still exist. 50 ft cars date back to the 1890's. They became more common in the 1930's when autos and auto parts bgan to be shipped by rail They became the predominate type of boxcar in the 1960's and now 60 ft cars are starting to supplant them.
Was there a transition period of years allowed betwee the 2 sizes by regulation where 40 footers were used for a temporary time period?
Irrelevant question, there never were ANY regulations that banned 40 ft cars. If you wanted to build 40 ft cars today you could, its just that 50-60 ft cars are more economical.
The "Z" (sort of), shaped runner board on top was removed in what year approximately? Some 40 footers have them and some don't? Some 50 footers have them and some don't?
Its not Z shaped. Wooden roofwalks since about 1910 have been three 6 inch wide boards of 18" wide. Metal roofwalks are generally slotted or punched metal in a channel crossection, with the flanges down, about 18' wide. Roofwalks were eliminated in the late 1960's and early 1970's.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Appreciate some help on these questions: