I have some questions regarding terminology for various items of relatively modern North American rolling stock in common usage, hopefully some readerss know the names…
Boxcars
a) Most regular* boxcars (certainly since the mid-1970s) have a corrugated end with square ribs (some examples). Does this very common style of end have an offical name?
b) Plate F Boxcars (autoracks as well) generally have a painted area/panel of white at the ends to denote the extra height (visible in the link above). What is the official name of this area of paint.
c) Do any other type of freight car have these painted panels? Current double-stack well cars (not older '80s bulkhead style) can’t by their very design, but what else could?
*Not post-1990s refrigerator cars which mostly have one flat end and one end with a framework to support the external refrigerator unit and mount the fuel tank - e.g. the TrinCools in the above link, but not converted CyroTrans.
Gondolas
a) Most modern plain (non-bulkehead) gondolas have ends with square corrugations as well (as seen on this Gondola of the Green Future), except they have also have a plate spaning the middle of these ends (Structural support I presume). I believe this style became common on NA rails via RailGon in the 1980s, but now it looks like almost all cataloged gondolas use this style of end. I presume it has a more official name than “Railgon Style” I see in the Walther’s flyers, so what would the name be.
b) Referring back to the ‘Gondola of the Green Future’ above, note the open gaps between the top corners of the car ends and the top chord of the gondola - I used to knew the name for these gaps (and the reason), but of course I forgot - does anyone know the name.</
1b. I don’t think anyone’s ever given that part of a boxcar a name. If the cars were required to have that area painted, I supposed the regulation would have a name for it.
3a. Covered hoppers, like hopper cars before them, have sloping interiors (instead of square ends like a house car), creating an open area at each end that was a convenient place to put the brake apparatus and such. It wasn’t specifically designed to be an “access way”, it just was making use of an open area caused by the car’s design.
3b. Generally covered hoppers have open areas at the end, but starting in the 1960s the ends were sometimes squared off and covered.
wjstix: To be clear, for the covered hopper, I am specifically referring to this round access hole in each end of the hopper car (OK, sorry its a model but the prototypes had that round access hole as well. Of couse I couldn’t find a good unobstructed image of an ACF car end, although now having said that I will soon find thousands of such prototype images). I don’t recall a mentiond of brake gear in them, but could be.
tree68, I read that thread you linked to about “ribbed” (ahen) and corrugated boxcar ends. It was interesting, but in this thread I was wondering if there were more specific names for corrugated ends, on the par with dreadnaught or murphy ends.
I have a feeling that the ends with the “square” ribs are fabricated, whereas the Dreadnaugt, etc, ends are stamped. Given that the stamped ends were unique to their manufactures, they carried the names. Welding square shapes to sheet steel isn’t all that unique, unless one or another manufacturer actually patented the concept.
The round holes possibly serve two purposes. One, as mentioned, may be to provide access to mechanical equipment (brakes), the other is probably simply to save some weight. They are likely round for the same reason portholes on ships are - square holes tend to fail when flexed.
I believe that only “modern” (late 1960’s on) covered hoppers have that. I don’t recall ever seeing it on earlier covered hoppers going back to the 1930’s-1960’s. Not sure all large/modern cars have it, it might be specific to one manufacturer?
Pretty clear to me that the ‘hole’ illustrated is a lightening and access hole, in a web that supports or strengthens the end slope sheet. As noted, it is ‘round’ to minimize stress raising in the metal of the plate.
Something not to do would be to close up the ‘box’ inside that sheet to where it couldn’t be vented or inspected…
