Why a Plug & Sliding Door ?

[Anonymous]

I recently bought a Northern Pacific 40' High Cube Boxcar. It has a plug door and a sliding door on each side. Can anyone tell me why this configuration was used and what was the boxcar used for ?

Each year I take a variety of my locomotives and rolling stock to school to share with the students. I tell them something about each piece of equipment. this one has me stumped.

Thanks for the Help.

[chutton01]

QUOTE: Originally posted by GoGators

I recently bought a Northern Pacific 40' High Cube Boxcar. It has a plug door and a sliding door on each side. Can anyone tell me why this configuration was used and what was the boxcar used for ?

Each year I take a variety of my locomotives and rolling stock to school to share with the students. I tell them something about each piece of equipment. this one has me stumped.

Thanks for the Help.

Well, from this site http://www.ge.com/capital/rail/equipment/boxcar/bcgeninfo.shtml, we get the following which doesn't directly answer your question:

QUOTE:
The sliding door is weather resistant and excludes direct light. However, it is not flush with the inside of the car when in the closed position. Most sliding doors are of the "free rolling" design in which the two bottom rollers are always sitting on the door track. This door can be opened or closed by simply pulling or pushing on the attached handles.
The plug door is designed to close with a final inward movement that positions (or "plugs") the interior of the door flush with the interior of the car. This flush feature increases the uninterrupted wall space of the car, and facilitates the use of insulation in the door. Plug doors have a gasket similar to a refrigerator door so that, when closed, the door seal is water and light resistant

OK, so we have one (plug) door which is flush fitting, sealed, and basically acts like the rest of the boxcar wall, and one standard (and cheaper/simplier) sliding door - IIRC, the sliding door is normally used for loading/unloading, and the plug door is opened only when extra size cargo is being loaded, or more manuevering room is needed for what would otherwise be awkward forklift loading angles.
1960s style Highcube boxcars are usually (not always) associated with appliances or autoparts loading, although nowadays paper loading is very common too.

[jsoderq]

The two doors on each side were to create a large opening for loading bulky items with a fork truck. The plug door was used because when it is closed it fits flush with the inside of the car to provide a smooth surface to load against. Two items these cars were used for were appliances and newspaper rolls.