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NP Double door boxcar question Locos and rolling stock
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Frequent poster 924 posts Yannis Frequent poster 924 posts
Yannis

Hi all,

I am trying to confirm the door sizes used on circa 6100-6500 roadnumbers of NP double door boxcars after some time spent measuring stuff. Going by pictures it seems that they were either 7' & 7' (or 8' & 8') and not the typical 8' & 7' combination that i am used to. So was it two 7' or two 8' doors?

Many thanks in advance for your replies.

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blindog10 Prolific poster 3,335 posts
blindog10

per the July 1969 ORER

That series has a 15' door opening. Scott Chatfield
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Craig Townsend Super User 1,642 posts
Craig Townsend

Door opening different than door size

The ORER only lists the door opening, not the door size. I know this sounds weird, but boxcar doors sometimes are bigger than the door opening. To the OP; Have you looked at the NP historical site, they have car drawings of various series of cars. They might have what you are looking for.


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Yannis Frequent poster 924 posts
Yannis

Thanks Scott!

So that would make the two equal width doors 7'+7' and together with the extra bit between them equal to 15'?

By the way, the door openings are centered on these cars (and not the typical offset with one door being on the centerline of the car).

PS. I did check for more info but the series of the cars (circa 6100 to 6500) is not covered.

My eyes (with respect to the proportions of YT doors in their various widths) and measurements, indicate 7' but i wanted to make sure before starting the project.

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blindog10 Prolific poster 3,335 posts
blindog10

odd door size

As Craig said, doors are a little wider than the opening, but only by a couple inches extra. That should make these about 7'8" wide, which would be an odd size. Hmmm.... For those playing along at home, a nice broadside: http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/np/np6429agd.jpg Scott Chatfield
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ctxmf74 Super User 15,992 posts
ctxmf74

"For those playing along at

Quote:

"For those playing along at home, a nice broadside:"

   Seems to scale out as 7' 6" doors ( if it's a 50 foot car?).....DaveB 

1990.jpg 
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blindog10 Prolific poster 3,335 posts
blindog10

I get just over 16'

Remember, a "50-foot" boxcar is generally 50'6"> inside < length. So when I scale the sides and doors I get a width over the doors of about 16'2". In other words, two "8-foot" doors. But looking through several later ORERs that series is still shown to have a 15'0" door opening. Never seen a boxcar whose doors have that much overlap (would be about 8-9" on either side). Still hmmmmm. Now I have to figure this one out since I'd planned to model one or two of these cars. Damn mysteries..... Scott Chatfield
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ctxmf74 Super User 15,992 posts
ctxmf74

"Now I have to figure this

Quote:

"Now I have to figure this one out since I'd planned to model one or two of these cars."

Are any correct style doors available? Might be easiest to get some and set them on the model and see which look best.... DaveB

1990.jpg 
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Craig Townsend Super User 1,642 posts
Craig Townsend

Series Numbers

Are the 6100-6500 series numbers the original series numbers or is that a repaint number series? If it's a repaint number series, finding the original number series would help in locating drawings. 


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Yannis Frequent poster 924 posts
Yannis

NP car some points

These NP cars appear with the same numbers (6000 to 6500) in both paint schemes, ie small monad (similar to the one Scott posted) and large billboard. The large billboard ones were both in boxcar brown and green colors.

I was puzzled by door dimensions and opened up this thread since they did not look like 8' doors proportionally and they appear a bit wider than 7' ones (going with Kadee 7' and 8' doors as a reference point). I thought (sliding) doors were something standardized ie 6', 7' , 8', 9' and 10'.

I am inclined to either use two 7' Kadee doors as something VERY close, or shorten/convert a bit a couple of 8' doors.

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blindog10 Prolific poster 3,335 posts
blindog10

7'6" doors

A friend sent me a pic of a car from this series and the right door appears to be stenciled MAIN OPENING 7'6". Can't say I ever laid hands on a 7'6" door. (It would actually be about 7'8" wide to overlap the opening a bit.) Learn something new every day. So.... that being known. I'm not aware of any models of 7'6" Youngstown doors. But since some doors made for models over the years have been a bit too narrow I'd find one of those not-wide-enough 8'0" doors and be happy. I'll look through my heap and see what I find. My plan for building one or two of these cars was to start with the old Details West double-plug-door kit (still available from Athearn in RTR form). That model was inspired by the Evans "Blue Island Reefer." Problem is the model is too short in both length and height and has the wrong roof. If you want an Evans car, get the correctly sized and detailed Atlas model. But the old DW's size, roof, and centered door opening makes it a good starting point for these NP cars. I'll shave off the plug door detail, glue on a pair of not-wide-enough 8' doors, add some Archer rivets, and call it a model! Scott Chatfield
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Larry Bischoff Active Member 55 posts
Larry Bischoff

NP double door boxcar

The old Branchline Blueprint 50' single door riveted side boxcar can be made into a very realistic NP car also. Built several using this car.

Get one with or add the overhanging diagonal panel roof and 8 rung ladders. The undecorated ones had 3 different roof styles included but are difficult to find any more. I believe Atlas makes these boxcars now.

Doors:  I've measured numerous photos of these cars also and some seem to measure out to to either (2) approximately 7'-8" doors, (2) 8' doors or (1) 7'6" and (1) 8'-0" door.   Jury's still out on that one, I guess.

Larry B
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Yannis Frequent poster 924 posts
Yannis

NP Car points...

Scott and Larry many thanks for the replies!

So that confirmed the mismatch in my measurements vs both a 7' and an 8'! I ll look into the door solution. I might shorten a bit a 8' door or just use 2x7' ones.

I will be using Accurail's double-plug-door welded sides boxcar as a starting point, since it has a centered opening, correct ends and roof (diagonal panels), plus i already have it.

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