06-15-2012, 10:34 PM
I remember reading articles about boxcars fitted with timber doors, and thinking what a laborious process it must have been to be the poor laborers tasked with having to load or unload a boxcar of timber via a timber door hatch. Trust me I have handled enough sticks and beams of timber over the years while building buildings to know just a bit more than most about the subject. 
The use of these doors on boxcars was acceptable in the days when the cost of labour was low in relation to the value of the timber. As the cost of labour increased and mechanized handling methods became more available to handle packs of timber as well as the introduction of several specialized flatcar designs to handle timber packs the use of boxcars with timber doors fell from favor.
One of the quirks of the US rail system during this period under ICC rate making regulations was that a shipper could send a boxcar on its way with no fixed consignee and divert the car in transit to where the best price was being paid for timber. The time taken on this journey also had the side effect of acting as the shippers mobile warehouse and also if the journey was particularly long the boxcar also acted as a defacto drying shed. It was not unheard of for boxcars to be opened and the timber inside was found to be fully seasoned.
One would hope that the boys stacking the boxcar had done a good job or else you maybe left with a load of expensive seasoned firewood.
Loading and unloading the boxcar would also mean positioning the car during switching to ensure easy access to the timber door to get at the door to be able to get long lengths in or out.
Mark
The use of these doors on boxcars was acceptable in the days when the cost of labour was low in relation to the value of the timber. As the cost of labour increased and mechanized handling methods became more available to handle packs of timber as well as the introduction of several specialized flatcar designs to handle timber packs the use of boxcars with timber doors fell from favor.
One of the quirks of the US rail system during this period under ICC rate making regulations was that a shipper could send a boxcar on its way with no fixed consignee and divert the car in transit to where the best price was being paid for timber. The time taken on this journey also had the side effect of acting as the shippers mobile warehouse and also if the journey was particularly long the boxcar also acted as a defacto drying shed. It was not unheard of for boxcars to be opened and the timber inside was found to be fully seasoned.
One would hope that the boys stacking the boxcar had done a good job or else you maybe left with a load of expensive seasoned firewood.Loading and unloading the boxcar would also mean positioning the car during switching to ensure easy access to the timber door to get at the door to be able to get long lengths in or out.
Mark
Fake It till you Make It, then Fake It some More