On Fri, Jul 15, 2022 at 03:18 PM, Richard Townsend wrote:
Pure, uninformed speculation: Could it also have to do with the thickness of the steel used in the various door panels, similar to what was done with car ends? For example, could the bottom panel of the door been of a heavier gauge steel, with the different panel heights depending on how high the car owner wanted the heavier gauge steel to extend?
Speculation, yes, but I tend to doubt that by this point in time the railroads specified the details of the vendor supplied products... they would order what the vendor offered. Anything else would be a 'special' with the higher cost that would entail. That's not saying Youngstown didn't decide to put the larger panel on the bottom for just this reason, either on their own or at the prompting of one or more customers, but it appears that once the change was made it became the new 'standard'. Does anyone know if the bottom panel actually was heavier gauge steel? I don't have easy access to any YSDCo. drawings.
