Can someone please tell me what year plug door box cars came out ?...
That's a real interesting question.
I just had a look in the 1953 CarBuilders Cyclopedia. And there are none there.
Since these books are what the railroad industry put out as the latest and greatest, I think looking at succeeding editions would be rewarding.
Ed
According to my survey, in 1951 the Youngstown Steel Door Co. released practical lever type plug doors in the name of "Sliding Flush Door." From the early 1960s it shifted to leverless type. However, it is not certain whether it is for reefers or box cars. There is an explanation article in the March 2016 issue of MRH magazine.
BN7150 According to my survey, in 1951 the Youngstown Steel Door Co. released practical lever type plug doors in the name of "Sliding Flush Door." From the early 1960s it shifted to leverless type. However, it is not certain whether it is for reefers or box cars. There is an explanation article in the March 2016 issue of MRH magazine.
The 1953 Car Builders' Cyclopedia does show sliding flush doors for use in refrigerator cars. Not in box cars.
Note should be made that "regular" reefer doors are plug doors. But they are not "sliding".
One cause of confusion about house car types (boxcars and reefers) with plug doors is that there were/are Reefers with bunkers (usually for ice), Mechanical reefers, bunkerless reefers RB , Insulated boxcars XI, in addition to various uninulated boxcar types.
My observation is that today most boxcrs have plug doors.
I have read that the difference between a RB and a XI was the amount of insulation.
I once had a link to a site that had a very detailed list of AAR class codes and how they changed over he years with dates. It is not on this computer and I am now unable to find it. Hopefully the site still exists and another Forum member has the link. I think I linked to it in another thread on the Forums, but that was years ago.
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
There is a nice book that will respond to the question. It is "Freight Cars of the '40s and '50s" by Jeff Wilson. You should get it. The keyword would be "insulated box cars."
https://kalmbachhobbystore.com/product/book/12489
7j43k That's a real interesting question. I just had a look in the 1953 CarBuilders Cyclopedia. And there are none there. Since these books are what the railroad industry put out as the latest and greatest, I think looking at succeeding editions would be rewarding. Ed
The 21st Edition of the "Cyc", 1961, shows them. The text makes the point that one value to "insulated" boxcars was not so much that they could hold a certain temperature but that they could also protect a load that could be damaged by condensation.
In addition to the expected "insulated" boxcars (and one Canadian "heated" boxcar), in fact several shown are 40 foot double door boxcars where one is a plug door and the other is a regular sliding door.
This certainly shows that plug doors were not only used for their insulating functions. I have read that the reason for the double door was so that the larger opening was available if needed for loading/unloading, but if not needed the plug door when closed essentially continued the smooth car-side on the interior.
Where the only door on a boxcar is a plug door the 1961 Cyc says they are insulated (and again, heated in that one case) but eventually I suspect other virtues of the plug door were discovered.
Moving ahead to the 1974 Car and Locomotive "Cyc," the text makes the interesting point that not only were boxcars getting longer than the traditional 40 and 50 feet, but that shippers were specifying larger door openings. I suspect at the some point the old sliding door was difficult to open if the door was very large. The text says that plug doors both single and double door was being used exclusively on a growing number of cars - without regard to whether the car was "insulated" it would seem. Several plug door cars are shown with no mention of them being "insulated" boxcars.
Dave Nelson
It has to have been as early as at least 1947.
The last freight car the Pere Marquette built in its own shops, in April, 1947, had a plug door.
It was a 40-foot, insulated boxcar with a six-foot plug door. It was a one-off, numbered 56200, and was rebuilt from an older boxcar.
-Fritz Milhaupt, Publications Editor, Pere Marquette Historical Society, Inc.http://www.pmhistsoc.org
I know two examples where plug doors are used except for insulated boxcars. One is combination-door, the other is grain-door.
Insulated boxcars with sliding-door are ......
BN7150 I know two examples where plug doors are used except for insulated boxcars. One is combination-door, the other is grain-door. Insulated boxcars with sliding-door are ......
Plug doors go back to the late 1800's :
https://id18538.securedata.net/westerfieldmodels.com/merchantmanager/popup_image.php?pID=45
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
7j43k BN7150 I know two examples where plug doors are used except for insulated boxcars. One is combination-door, the other is grain-door. Insulated boxcars with sliding-door are ...... Ed
The UP car and the MDW car have plug doors in order to provide a smooth interior surface. The UP car is a grain car and by using a plug door and the grain loading hatch in the door it eliminates the need for a grain door. The MDW car probably hauls paper and the plug door provides a smooth interior surface so the rolls of paper (or high value commodities that need a smooth interior) don't get damaged, but if they need to open the door wider to get bigger forklifts or wood products they can.
The benefit of a plug door on a non-insulated car is it provides a smooth continuous interior surface.
Hey guys. Thanks for all of your imput on this. I finally located my one and only old school plug door car and it's dated 1957 which is what I was hoping for...
Old models are interesting. I am looking forward to exploring them (yes, I'm a nitpicker). And I came to the conclusion that Mr. Irvin Athearn must have never known that almost of insulated boxcars (plug-door boxcars) are refrigerator cars. The prototypes of the two attached pictures are not mechanical reefers. The second is not even yellow.