!) What is the typical width of for grab irons used to to detail ? 18" 20" 24"

2) Advantages of metal vs styrene ?

3) Did most steam era cars use drop style? thanks Doug G

On Feb 25, 2007, at 7:34 AM, radius158 wrote:

!) What is the typical width of for grab irons used to to detail ? 18" 20" 24"

18" was by far the most common width; however, 14" was the minimum allowed by AAR standards, and longer grabs could be (and often were) used where necessary or convenient. The AAR safety appliance specifications were published in the Car Builders' Cyclopedias and go on for pages and pages.

2) Advantages of metal vs styrene ?

Styrene grabs are invariably too thick as well as being excessively fragile. Grabs are sometimes broken on RTR styrene models when they first come out of the box, and continue to be vulnerable if the model is operated at all. But most of us live with molded styrene bracket grabs (e.g., on models of AAR steel box cars) because there are no cast metal replacements. Detail Associates make molded Delrin grabs which are durable but, unfortunately, too long for use on most models (21" vs. 18", IIRC).

3) Did most steam era cars use drop style?

It depended entirely on the application. Most steel cars built in the 1930s and later had bracket grabs on the sides and ends. Drop grabs were common on end sills and where they were used in lieu of ladders. But there are no safe generalizations.

Richard Hendrickson

In researching some older cars built in the 1900s to about 1916 it seems
that these were more likely to have wider handholds, often around 20-21
inches. That’s not a hard and fast rule, but simply an observation that the
wider type were more often seen on older cars - you still need photos or
drawings to refer to.

Interestingly it seems that some more frugal railroads *may* have reused
fittings from scrapped cars when adding the second hand hold on the left
hand side after these were required. I have a couple of photos where the
original lower hand hold is about 18 inches wide while the upper handhold is
about 21 or 24 inches

Aidrian

On Feb 25, 2007, at 3:23 PM, Aidrian Bridgeman-Sutton wrote:

Interestingly it seems that some more frugal railroads *may* have reused
fittings from scrapped cars when adding the second hand hold on the left
hand side after these were required. I have a couple of photos where the
original lower hand hold is about 18 inches wide while the upper handhold is
about 21 or 24 inches

Adrian, another possible explanation for this is that, when the second grabs were added, they were made long enough to reach from the corner post to the nearest suitable attachment point. For example, on some Mather box and stock cars, that point was on the steel channel diagonal brace, which made a longer grab iron necessary. For obvious reasons, both builders and car repair shops preferred attaching grab irons to body framing rather than to wood sheathing.

Richard Hendrickson