Re: (erielack) EL & Erie 50' double door boxcars

["Todd Stearns" <toddsyr_@_twcny.rr.com>]

Paul B., thanks for an informative post, every little bit from each person
helps me learn more. I really appreciate you identifying which fire truck
company and it's location was served. You are probably right about furniture
having to fit through 42" doorways, but that's with people carrying it. I'd
imagine the double doors on the boxcars came in handy with sofas and such
being loaded with fork trucks and tow motors. Just my guess anyhow. There's
alot more in your post I appreciate also, I'm just trying to keep this
rather short as I must get in a quick nap before going back to work. Also, I
see there's a couple more replies to this thread and I'd like to get to them
also. Again, thanks Paul, much appreciated. Oh yeah, though I'm hurrying,
these posts are now saved on my hard drive for future reference, especially
the ones I ask questions about. Todd

- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Paul Brezicki" <doctorpb_@_bellsouth.net>
To: "EL Mailing List" <erielack_@_lists.elhts.org>; "Paul Tupaczewski"
<paultup_@_comcast.net>
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 7:03 AM
Subject: (erielack) EL & Erie 50' double door boxcars


> Todd, Paul and Group,
>
> I think probably all of the series 65000-65099 made it onto the EL balance
sheet (unless any were wrecked); 19 years is relatively young for a freight
car. However the end doors were leak-prone and over time were replaced as
Paul indicated, although according to the Color Guide three kept their end
doors until 1976 to serve the fire truck plant in Elmira. While dbl-door
boxcars were common (and acquired in large numbers by Erie), cars equipped
with end doors weren't, and by the time the 66000 series was built in the
fifties had fallen out of favor. By this time the rails were rapidly losing
market share in assembled motor vehicles to trucking, reaching a nadir of 5%
by the late 50's. Then in 1959 a new end-loading car appeared: the autorack
in bi- and tri-level versions, which helped the rails regain market share to
nearly 70% within 10 years.
>
> The 65000 series had both end and double side doors so they could serve
facilities with either end or side loading/unloading ramps. Many of the
double door cars were assigned to auto parts service, the wide doorways
facilitating rapid loading and unloading of bulky parts with forklifts.
Their concurrent use in furniture and appliance service I think had more to
do with restricting these cars to "clean" lading, preventing contamination
of parts and consumer goods with residual dust from prior loads of packaged
bulk like flour or cement. Furniture ultimately must fit through 42"
doorways, so I doubt it required double door cars because of dimension.
>
> Paul B


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