--- In STMFC@..., "Dennis Storzek" <destorzek@...> wrote:

--- In STMFC@..., "laramielarry" <ostresh@> wrote:

Is there some reason why most (all???) the "long" 40 foot boxcars
were double sheathed? Or is it just a coincidence?

Larry,

I can give it a good guess. Very likely these are cars that were built
with DS wood ends, then rebuilt with pressed steel ends. The original
end framing, which relied on the depth (thickness?) of the end posts
for their strength, was considerably thicker than the pressed steel
ends, leaving the extra length in the interior after rebuilding.

Dennis

My understanding of your hypothesis is that the cars were built with a
standard 40' 6" IL and DS wood ends. When rebuilt with thinner steel
ends they gained an extra foot or so of IL. This implies that their EL
should be longer than other DS cars that were originaly built with
steel ends.

To test this, I entered the exterior lengths of the "long" 40' cars
into an Excel file, and did the same for a comparison group of USRA DS
cars. The average EL for the "long" cars was about 43' 0"; the average
for the USRA cars was about 41' 11", a difference of 1' 1". (The
average IL for the "long" cars was 41' 3", while all the USRA cars were
40' 6".)

I think you guessed very well, Dennis!

Best wishes,
Larry