Any general rules regarding the dates as to when wooden running boards were
replaced by metal roof walks on 40’ boxcars? I’m thinking of cars
manufactured around WWII through the late forties / early fifties.

Pete Piszczek

Metal grid running boards began to appear in significant numbers in the
late 1930s, and some railroads (e.g., NKP) adopted them as standard
practice; even during the WW II steel shortages, many new cars were
equipped with metal running boards, as the shortages affected mostly sheet
rather than bar steel. In 1944
the AAR ruled that new cars were required to have metal running boards, and
that wood running boards on older cars were to be replaced with metal when
replacement was required. However, many cars built before 1944 kept their
wood running boards until they were retired or, in the '60s, running boards
were eliminated entirely. Dated photographic evidence is the only sure
guide for specific cars.

Richard H. Hendrickson
Ashland, Oregon 97520