plug doors

[doanster]

What is a plug door on a boxcar?

[BentnoseWillie]

A plug door is a door that fits into its opening in the car side, rather than sliding across the opening. Its hardware swings it out to clear the car side then rolls away from the opening much like a sliding door.

Such doors are common on cars for "clean" lading such as paper. Refrigerator cars and insulated boxcars use plug doors for their tighter seal. There also are combination-door cars with one plug and one slider on each side - I'm not certain what the rationale is for using the two types together.

The main drawbacks of plug doors are the weight, expense and maintenance cost of the more complicated hardware.

[doanster]

great! thanks

[CShaveRR]

B-W

On combination-door cars, the sliding doors are generally the wider of the pair, and are usually, if not always, centered on the side. The cars usually function the same way as a single sliding-door car.

The plug doors are usually to the left of the sliding doors. They're used only when a wider opening is needed. When closed (which is in most cases) they function as part of the car's wall, much more rigid than a sliding door would be.