It would appear that heavyweight passwnger cars were generally 85ft long. Were there any exceptions to this “General” rule?
RicZ
EzrailsIt would appear that heavyweight passwnger cars were generally 85ft long. Were there any exceptions to this “General” rule? RicZ
The only rule is that there are exceptions to every rule.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Eighty-five feet is a decent "rule of thumb," but as Balt says, they can vary.
Our Canadian heritage baggage cars (used as open air and/or party cars) are more like 70 feet.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
85 feet is the common length for lightweight cars. After reviewing the Passenger Equipment Register and other sources, the common length for heavyweight cars is 79 feet.
Most of our cars are 85 ft. (meaured from coupler face to coupler face). We have mostly Budd built cars from around 1948
The other thing to remember about length - the longer a car is, the WIDER it is when it comes to negotiating curves. The middle of a longer car overhangs the centerline of the track structure MORE than does the same width car that is shorter.
BaltACDThe other thing to remember about length - the longer a car is, the WIDER it is when it comes to negotiating curves. The middle of a longer car overhangs the centerline of the track structure MORE than does the same width car that is shorter.
The 'correct' place to put the center and side bearings on a car would be at the 'quarter points', where the cantilever load in the underframe is balanced as on a swing bridge. (This explains, imho, why the truck placement on ACS64s looks the way it does).
Of course this also means that the car ends will have 'proportionally equal swing' the other way from the 'middle' on curves... and when you look at a typical heavyweight passenger (as opposed to baggage) car, you'll find the trucks close to the ends. That limits the necessary coupler swing when switching cars, and keeps diaphragm deflection between cars minimized.
Baggage/Express and RPO cars tended to be shorter (60 or 70 feet) since they carried more weight. They often were buit without vestibules, as well.
Ezrails It would appear that heavyweight passwnger cars were generally 85ft long. Were there any exceptions to this “General” rule? RicZ
Heavyweight steel cars came in a very wide variety of lengths depending on the builder, the type of car, than the railroad it was built for.
Some as short as 55', but 60' was the common minimum.
Some as long as 85', but it depends on how you measure them.
Pullman had several "standard" frames which were 79'-80' that were used for most sleepers, diners, lounge/observations, etc.
But, other types of cars - all bets are off.
Coaches/Combines - as short as 60' for many commuter cars, some as long as 80', and every length in between there. 75' was actually a very popular coach length.
Baggage cars - 70' far and away the most common length for heavyweight cars.
RPO/Baggage combines - also typically built on 70' frames, but a few built on longer frames.
RPO cars - full RPO cars were almost all 60' long because the Post Office had a standard floor plan that was a requirement - not bigger, not smaller.
Years ago Carstens published a 3 volume soft cover set of books on passenger cars. Volume 1 is wooden cars and Heavyweight steel cars, with lots of plans and info. It has about 36 different heavyweight car plans drawn to HO scale.
A quick scan found most Pullman built cars as noted above to be 82' or 83' over the pulling faces, making the actual car body 79-80 feet as I mentioned above.
Almost all other builders cars in this publication were less than 80'.
Worth taking note, the SP/UP/IC Harriman cars were built by various builders to a common set of plans. Look up E H Harriman for more info.
Theses cars had a standard construction with an arched roof and if I recall only the diner in this design was 80' long - all other cars being shorter with many/most being only 65' long.
Here is the thing about passenger cars, except for coaches, they were generally built in small batches with custom specifications for the railroad in question.
Any notion that all early steel heavyweight cars are 80' or 85' long is patently false.
And, the fact is many of the earlest smoothside "lightweight" cars were not 85' long either.
The B&O Cincinnatian, an smooth side train built by the B&O in 1946 was made up of cars 79' long, the the combine was only 76' long.
Sheldon
South Shore's cars from the Insull era were only 60 or 61 feet long as built. I mention them because their dimensions were closer to steam railroad size then that of a typical interurban.
CSSHEGEWISCHSouth Shore's cars from the Insull era were only 60 or 61 feet long as built.
But the 20's cars had an additional section added back in the '40s lengthening them to about 75 feet
Motors 11-28, combines 100-111 and trailers 201-206 were all lengthened. The remainder kept their short length until retirement. 23-28 and 100-111 later received the large windows and a/c.
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