1908 Grain Doors and End Doors

Now extinct, wooden grain doors and end doors were once quite common in and on early Canadian wooden boxcars. 

Specialized steel cars have replaced these adaptations of the ancient, industry-standard 36- or 40-foot boxcars. 

Most of the images come from this book. It was part of the Science of Railways series.

Undated, unused postcard.

The age of wooden cars carrying grain during the autumn 'grain rush' to the Lakehead.

In the undated view, above, you may be able to observe examples of both types of doors.

Here is the professional biography of the author of the Science of Railways series ...

from: Biographical Directory of the Railway Officials of America; 1901; T Addison Busby; Railway Age.

Note: Only Figures 50 to 54 illustrate types of reusable grain doors.

The text flows around boxcar door examples and they are included to illustrate the era.

The text refers solely to grain doors.

from: Train Country: MacKay & Perry; 1994; Douglas & McIntyre.

Above: A Canadian grain inspector scales a grain door which will probably be broken when the car is unloaded at the terminal elevator. 

Below: Here is the first example of a permanent grain door.

from: Train Country: MacKay & Perry; 1994; Douglas & McIntyre.

In Quebec, in 1930, a grain door has been adapted to meter out seed grain.

To sum up: You can see why special patented grain doors never caught on. They would be subject to damage from the heavy forces of unloading, particularly at large terminal elevators. While they were a nice idea if a single company was shipping small amounts of grain between its elevators and another facility it owned ... they would not have been practical for the large-scale operations seen in the US and Canada.

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End Doors

I had always wondered what purpose these doors served. It turns out that 'specialized' boxcars had these openings. 

The mystery is solved in the first sentence. Figure 49 illustrates an end door's construction.

The postcard, above, shows the Canadian Northern Railway yard at Saskatoon.

The postcard was mailed in 1917.

The colourized photo shows some nice examples of end doors.

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1940 Car Inspection Manual - Air Brake Inspection Rules

As I was posting the CPR article from 1965 about the One Spot Car Shop at Agincourt Yard, I came upon this handy 5 by 7 inch book again.

The book was owned by an employee of the CNR carshops at London, Ontario. It was published by the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen of America in 1940 and this is a 1954 reprint.

Considering the multiple publications of company rules produced for employees by US railroads, and publications from organizations such as the Association of American Railroads, it was the author's intention to bring as much information as possible on car inspection into a single publication. As a matter of course, he suggests that in the case of a disagreement with this book, the official publication should be followed. 

You may recognize the author, as Simmons-Boardman published a number of books of CM Drennan's Chalk Talks. These were grouped by broad air brake subject into books, and printed in a 'white on black' format to suggest how a chalkboard diagram of a brake system could be set up for an instruction class.

The first section I have reproduced is a helpful compilation of AAR rules pertaining to terminal tests, inspections of air brakes, and other related items.

Early in life, I was told that the engineer of the leading engine (in a steam motive power consist) handled the whistling and controlled the brakes. 

The trailing units in diesel consists 'in a standard MU configuration' would contribute the output of their powerful compressors to the charging of a trainline.

Rule 22 (above): ... But I had never thought of the arrangement when multiple steam locomotives operated together - from the standpoint of the air compressors. I think that the steam-driven air compressors were probably regulated by a relatively simple high pressure steam valve (resembling an outdoor garden hose valve). I just had never thought of this arrangement on the trailing locomotives before reading this passage.

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Air Brake History

While I've gone through Drennan's Chalk Talks on K (older) and AB brakes, I didn't remember the particular names of the last two types and I didn't want to take the time to pull out and leaf through the Chalk Talks.

My first AI search of them led to a diplomatic suggestion that these types may have been 'misremembered' as they were not found in any 'old catalogue', etc. However, a day later, the AI seemed to have a nodding acquaintance with them. On the second try, I just submitted the brake system name.

There are probably few areas of railway industrial history as rich in detail as the design characteristics and operating features of various air brake systems. One needs a plan to stop a train before one sets it in motion. The operation of longer and longer trains was made possible through the advances in air brake technology because the momentum of trains must be kept under control at all times without harsh run-ins of slack.

In CTC territory, the dispatcher's suddenly revealed intention to stop a train at a particular location, over a path of approach with challenging grade characteristics, often required careful planning by the engineer ... and the expectation that the train's air brake system would respond in a reasonably predictable fashion. 

With a timetable and train order system, an extra train's crew 'helping themselves over the subdivision' added the challenge of clearing other trains by a certain time ... to the stress of the engineer's hopeful expectations regarding the functioning of his air brake system on a given day.

... So there are many fascinating stories lost to history about engineers' experiences working with different locomotives and their brake systems, handling a wide variety of train consists, on a wide variety of subdivision profiles, under various traffic control systems, in all sorts of weather conditions.

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