Life-Like 40' SD 10-Panel Boxcar ~ Lehigh Valley ~ Rd# 66392

Description: The first all-steel boxcar was proposed and approved by the American Railroad Association (ARA) in 1932 and had an inside height dimension of 9’-4”, mostly in accommodation to Eastern railroad tunnel restrictions. The Depression delayed the sale of these cars and by the time of the economy’s resurgence and only about 15,000 were ordered in 1936. By 1936, the A.R.A./A.A.R. evolution of the 40’-6” all-steel boxcar design moved to the 10’-0“ Inside Height car, becoming the most common of all A.A.R. standard boxcars: the 50-ton 1937 A.A.R. with 10’-0” inside height (IH). The Car Construction Committee approved this revised design in June 1936 and cars of the type were built from 1936 to 1947. The common version of this car had 10-panel riveted sides with 6’ door openings, 4/5 Dreadnaught Ends, and a Murphy rectangular panel roof. The A.A.R. design was modular in concept. The side panels, ends, and roofs were interchangeable components parts that conformed to A.A.R. standard dimensions. Often car builders such as American Car & Foundry, Pullman-Standard and Pressed Steel Car Co., found it more economical to order roofs, ends and sides from fabricators such as Standard Railway Equipment Co of Chicago and install them in their shops.Many variations existed in the selection of ends and roofs used on this family of cars. Early versions built until 1939 typically had square corners and later versions had round corners with W-section corner posts - a stronger design. In 1941, the A.A.R. approved an optional taller design with a 10’-6” inside height, commonly known as the Modified 1937 AAR boxcar. These quickly became the 40’ boxcars of choice by most railroads, particularly those located in the Midwest. However, other roads continued to purchase 40’ boxcars with a 10’-0” inside height during the immediate postwar period and the 1950’s such as the Southern Pacific. This was often due to tunnel or other clearance restrictions. By 1947, over 119,000 of the 1937 AAR 10’-0” IH boxcars were in use throughout the US and Canada, followed by an almost equal number of Modified 1937 AAR boxcars. As the depression waned, beginning in 1937 and thru June of 1942, the Great Northern began replacing their aging 8’-7“ IH and USRA boxcars with 8,000 of the new tongue & groove sided, all-steel Pratt truss frame design boxcar. Wood side construction the road considered cheaper and easier to repair. Another unusual feature of the car was teh use of a 1922 ARA standard riveted center sill and underframe. Opting to forgo the higher volume of 3,898 cu ft of cargo space offered with the Modified 1937 AAR design, the C&O stayed with the 10’-0” inside height version with 3,713 cubic feet of loading space, mostly due to tunnel clearances. Founded in 1924, in Austintown, Ohio; Youngstown Steel Door was primarily known as a builder of boxcar doors and rail car sides. While YSD did not manufacture freight cars their doors were used by various railroad shops and freight car builders due to the standardization rules imposed by the USRA and ARA. It was far more efficient to simply buy the standard doors & rails from YSD then try to fabricate the doors themselves. Last picture is of a 9' wide YSD design Circa 1925 as approved by the USRA for use on boxcars by the American railroads. Railroads found themselves in an increasingly challenging landscape after 1910; many laws had been passed which significantly expanded federal oversight and the impact of the new trucking industry was being felt. Congress and the Wilson administration had tried to intervene in the railroad industry’s economic struggles for several years. By 1916, there were severe problems within the nation’s railroad system. Many of the problems stemmed from the expanded powers given to the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) when the Hepburn Rate Act of 1906 was passed by Congress. President Theodore Roosevelt had advocated for the Hepburn Act, which gave the ICC power to regulate “fair, just and reasonable” passenger and shipping rates of the railroads. The rate caps led to some railroads becoming unprofitable, forcing them into receivership (bankruptcy). World War I began in August 1914. The outbreak of war had coincided with a time when most of the nation’s railroads were suffering financially. Although the railroads had made large investments in their systems during the first 15 years of the 20th century, there was still a great deal of capital expenditures needed to fix inadequacies in terminals, track and rolling stock. The countries fighting in World War I purchased $3 billion of munitions from United States factories. Once manufactured, the munitions were primarily routed through a few port cities on the Atlantic Ocean. Existing terminal facilities were incapable of handling the export tonnage; therefore, thousands of loaded railroad cars sat on sidings, waiting transfer of their contents to ships. As the railcars sat, the result was a shortage of railcars to move normal freight traffic. The ICC had been setting the railroads’ maximum shipping rates for about a decade. With the war, inflation became a problem for the American economy, and the railroads weren’t able to generate enough revenue to keep pace with rising costs. The railroads also were hampered by rising taxes and operational costs. As noted above, many railroads were still operating while bankrupt. In addition, the railroad unions threatened to strike for shorter working days and better pay during the second half of 1916. To avert a strike, President Woodrow Wilson advocated on behalf of Congressional passage of the Adamson Act, which set an eight-hour workday as the standard for the industry. The legislation was ruled constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, so the railroads had no choice but to comply. However, despite their victory, many skilled railroad workers were leaving their cash-poor employers to work in the fast-growing armaments industry or to enlist in the war effort. Concurrently, Congress had passed the Army Appropriations Act of 1916, which granted the president the power to take over the nation’s transportation systems, if needed, during war. When the United States’ declared war on April 6th, 1917, rail congestion further increased because soldiers needed to be moved from their hometowns to induction points, then to training facilities and then to embarkation points.The railroads tried to coordinate their war-related efforts by creating the Railroads’ War Board. However, there were antitrust issues as well as regulatory barriers to this attempt. In addition, various government departments/agencies asked for priority status for their shipments; this led to significant congestion in freight yards, terminals and port facilities. By 1917, the railroad system could not hold up under the heavy demands of a wartime economy. By December 1917, it was clear that the existing railroad system was not capable of supporting the war effort; therefore, the ICC recommended that federal control of the railroads was necessary to ensure their efficient operation. Moreover, it was hoped that a government takeover of the railroads would bring railroad management, labor, investors and shippers together on behalf of the national war effort. Under the USRA, competition was essentially eliminated, and the nearly 260,000-mile network of railroad track was operated as a single entity. The inventory of railroad rolling stock under USRA control was 61,000 locomotives, 2.25 million freight cars and 58,000 passenger cars. In a positive long-term move for the railroads, the federal government spent $380 million on over 100,000 new railroad cars and 1,930 steam-powered locomotives. USRA-mandated standard designs were used for the new locomotives and railcars. The railways remained under federal control until March 1920. The USRA has been heavily criticized for its stringent methods; profits and general maintenance were ignored in an effort to keep the trains rolling. The USRA’s measures severely strained track and equipment, and by war’s end many railroads were completely worn out. However, the agency did oversee improvements in the area of standardization, particularly with locomotives and rolling stock. To see all our listings, visit: Ika's Train Store Note #1: I will combine shipping for multiple items. Please purchase the items but do *NOT* pay. I will review and calculate shipping as close as to what I have to pay. I will then forward an invoice with the adjusted shipping. If you do pay ahead of this recalculation, I will refund the shipping difference as part of preparing the items for shipment. Note #2: I want you to be happy with your purchase and would appreciate you leaving positive feedback. In the event you are not, please contact me immediately before leaving feedback so we may resolve it. Thank you. Note #3: If not previously stated item(s) come from a smoke-free environment with cats. Note #4: This is a Grandma & Grandpa shop. We have a 4-business day shipping window (this means that if you pay for your order on a Friday, it may not get shipping until the following Thursday). We do combine shipping especially when we are asked about it.If you want combined shipping, please purchase all your items in one order. If you purchase items in more than one order, send us a message so that we know about the additional items and box the orders together. (When items are bought in multiple orders, we do not always notice they were bought by the same person unless we are notified by the buyer.) We refund extra shipping charges when combined shipping is requested. If we ship items separately, we do not issue a shipping refund.For our International customers: YES!! we do combine shipping. The most economical way for you to buy multiple items from us is for you to send us a list of the items you want to buy. Do not purchase them as they are listed!! (This leads to higher than necessary fees & shipping.) Send us a complete list of all the items you want. Then we will cancel the listings for the items and turn them into a special listing just for you (We'll send you the listing named before making it active). It will have your full purchase with the correct shipping box size and weight. This saves you on the international fees & shipping.

Price: 9 USD

Location: London, Ohio

End Time: 2025-01-18T14:45:45.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD