Western Railroad Discussion > Combination door boxcar question

Please explain the combination door boxcar - one regular sliding door and one plug door.

I thought plug doors created a more airtight seal from the elements, wouldn't an adjacent sliding door negate those advantages.

Thanks for your assistance,

Mark
Salem, Oregon

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An airtight seal is not needed for many loads. That particular car is probably used to haul wood products. Plywood most likely.

The idea is to make a versatile car that can act as either a double door boxcar or a plug door boxcars. If you were loading 8' studs in the car, you would load the car just like any other double door boxcar. But if you are loading paper, you would seal the far doors with duct tape, load the car and close the slider. Seal the slider with duct tape, and then shut the plug door to seal the car.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Plug door has to be closed first. It's mainly to give a larger opening.

Posted from Android

Yes, the plug door closes 1st.

The idea is...you can use it as a box car with sliding door only, and still have flush walls where the plug doors are, to increase your
usable cu ft in the car.

If you have larger lading, you can open the plug doors also, for extra door width.

Now...plug doors in general...they were first started for bunkerless reefers, mech reefers and insulated box cars. Hard to do any insulation
with a sliding door.

AFAIK, the main reason all the large box cars today have mostly plug doors, is that large sliding doors just get too hard to move. I remember
trying to open 8' sliding doors, and unless the cars were fairly new, open and closing sliding doors was a real PITA. After and car was several years
old, you's see where the door was getting all banged up from people using forklift blades to open and close the doors.
Plug doors run on wide runners and rollers, and are easier to move. And since the doors are out away from the car side, there is not problem when
a car side is bulged out.

As for protecting lading from the elements.....from my days working in a yard office.....I never heard of any damage claims from items in a sliding door box car being exposed to the elements, within the normal course of events.

Wouldn't it also matter as to where the door was going to be opened? If it were next to a building how would you open the door if it didn't slide? Would the door open into the building?

AL Bayer

althewelder Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wouldn't it also matter as to where the door was
> going to be opened? If it were next to a building
> how would you open the door if it didn't slide?
> Would the door open into the building?
>
> AL Bayer

Swing doors don't exist on boxcars,,,all doors be they plug or slider, they slide open. The plug door rotates out on two lock levers and slides but when you close it the lock levers twist in and lock the plug in place.

Larry Dodgion
Wilsonville, OR

Popular idea in the past, mostly for using forklifts to carry the load, mostly forest products of some sort, into the car. The center beam car and weatherproof wrappings have pretty much taken over, most other finished products travel by container now.

The combination door idea seems to have been popular since the 60's, including the latter 50ft Railbox cars. The extra doors simply added to the maintainance costs though, then it became a matter of cutting into profits.

The plug doors create more solid wall to pack against than a double sliding door car does. You get the advantages of the extra width opening for fork lift operations and when the doors are closed the plugs are nearly as strong as the car side and just as smooth.

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