40' vs 50' Boxcar for lumber loads (late 1960s - early 70s)


Y

Yannis

Active Member
Hi all,

I have read around about suitable boxcars carrying lumber in related books and forum threads. I saw a lot of informative answers/info about different eras. I got a very specific question: Whether 40' or 50' boxcars (or both) would be more appropriate for bringing in lumber loads for a furniture factory. I suppose in both cases i should aim for double door cars vs 6' single door ones.

I have seen early 1960s (and 1950s) cases with 40' boxcars even having a 6' door being loaded with lumber. I have also seen 40' double door ones and 40' rebuilt with 10' doors (SP, NP). I am wondering though what would be more plausible for the 1968-1970 era on my layout.

For outbound finished furniture i ll be using 50' double door boxcars anyway, so maybe it is a good idea to have 50' for incoming loads as well in order not to mix 50' with 40' boxcars on the same industry/dock?

On a different note, i suppose lower-grade lumber for packaging etc...could be brought in flatcars.
On a different different note... mixing 40' with 50' boxcars on the same industry is a plausible scenario or a rather odd one? For example some lumber (or other commodity, say cotton, wool, newsprint...) is brought in 40' cars other in 50' etc...

Thank you very much in advance for your time and replies!
Yannis

PS. I get that 40' vs 50' has to do sometimes with specific needs of the customer based on loading door spacing. I am using a dock though so i guess this sorts of covers both 40' and 50' cases. I also understand that 50' is more economical than 40' for shipping.
 
Since your industry isn't specifically set up for one specific size of car, a mix is entirely conceivable.

As you've yourself noted, lumber could be in any of the configurations you've mentioned. If lumber does come in the same 50' double door cars as you're using to ship furniture out, the factory could probably re-load the same cars outbound, unless the RR had some sort of restriction on them, or if the outbound cars additionally required special loading features like interior bulkheads, restraint bars or strap tie downs.

Remember that in the 1950s and probably through the 1960s lumber was still loaded by hand, not necessarily bundled and forklifted.
 
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Chris many thanks for the reply and help. So if loading door configuration is not an issue, what would have been more frequently seen in the very late 60s? 50' or 40'?

I am thinking of not using the same cars for in/outbound loads. Finished furniture will mostly go out in ATSF cars whereas inbounds will be mostly SP, NP, CBQ, CN, CP etc... (based on advice on roadnames i read in a very informative older post of yours in a related topic if i am not mistaken). I hypothesize that outbound cars will have load dividers (and cushion underframes in some cases) for the furniture. Inbound is lumber (hardwoods mostly, so i guess 50' double door, or the odd 40' car) and cotton/leather/infill for sofas, chairs etc... i guess i can use 50' single door cars for the latter types of products (South, Southeastern roads).

Sherrel: Very inspiring layout photos!!! And thank you for the example from the previous era!
 
I'm guessing; but, think by the very late 60s the 40 footer would have been going away, unless "Hi Cube", and the 50 would be supplanting them. I also think that increasingly, dimensional lumber loads would be being shipped on flat cars; or, in gondolas in the late 60s early 70s. However, during this time I was in the U.S. ARMY, based in Stuttgart Germany, so what would I know?
 
NP2626 said:
I'm guessing; but, think by the very late 60s the 40 footer would have been going away, unless "Hi Cube", and the 50 would be supplanting them. I also think that increasingly, dimensional lumber loads would be being shipped on flat cars; or, in gondolas in the late 60s early 70s. However, during this time I was in the U.S. ARMY, based in Stuttgart Germany, so what would I know?
Click to expand...

40' cars weren't being built in any large numbers anymore, but there were so many thousands of them built in the 1930s-1950s still in service that they'd probably still equal or outnumber their 50' counterparts at that point.
 
Northern Pacific developed the first center beam lumber cars and took delivery of the first ones built by Thrall in 1966. I believe they were 63' long. There was a lumber yard on the Rock Island track near my home and I remember when I saw the first ones in the early 1970s. They were very different and unusual at the time. I do remember the box cars being delivered there too, but don't remember the type. The were large so I am pretty certain they were 50' or maybe even 60'. But also, the memories of a junior high person aren't that reliable.
 
Thank you very much everyone! I think i will include some specific 40' rebuilt cars in the mix such as SP and NP rebuilts with 10' doors and reinforced sills. Given that my industry's loading doors wont be an issue (can cover both 40' and 50') and having a concrete dock as well for the forklifts, i ll be able to mix 40' with 50' cars on the same cuts depending on the hardwood type/quantity ordered. In other words, denser woods in the 40' cars, less dense in the 50' etc...
 
Sounds like you've logiced it all out. Now it's: "Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead!"
 
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