On Jul 20, 2007, at 6:01 AM, Miller, Andrew S. wrote:

Many years ago I kitbashed a model of a NKP 40' end door box car from a
photo in the Car Builders Cyc. As we now start to assign end door
cars to some service at the North Shore Club, I wondered, what was the
purpose to which these cars were put. Almost anything I could think of
would be better served by a 50' end door car.

40' end door cars were used for many loads that would not fit in a
non-end-door car, whether 40' or 50', and for which a car 40' long was
adequate in length. There is a photo in my book on Santa Fe furniture
and automobile cars of a 40' NYC box car at Los Angeles in 1947 with
International pickup trucks being unloaded through the open end door;
the pickups were too tall to fit on Evans auto racks and therefore were
not "double-decked." In the same book there are also photos of Santa
Fe 40' double door cars which were equipped with end doors so they
could be used for aircraft parts loading during and after World War II.
Such cars were also used to ship large trucks, busses, farm machinery,
and industrial equipment which would not fit easily (or at all) through
the side doors of double door cars. Many such loads were not long
enough to require the use of 50' end door cars.

Richard Hendrickson