# Why do autoracks have porous sides



## ryanmetzler3 (Jul 15, 2015)

I have often wondered why autoracks dont have solid walls that enclose the car. At first I assumed it was to save money on steel, but I'm not sure if it would even be cheaper considering the machining or specialty molds needed to make something like that. 

Plus you would think they would worry about graffiti artists painting trains full of cars and ruining the cars inside with paint spray. Any input on this?


----------



## dave1905 (Jul 7, 2013)

To let light in the decks so people working in the cars can see what they are doing.


----------



## johnfl68 (Feb 1, 2015)

> A major problem left to solve was that the new autorack cars did not provide any protection from theft, vandalism, or from severe weather. Individual railroads began installing mesh side screens and solid panels to their racks to protect the vehicles from impact and debris in the late 1960s, and by the early 1970s new racks were being delivered with these side panels. However, thieves and vagrants could still gain access to the automobiles. In 1973 the first fully enclosed racks with continuous side panels, end doors, and roofs were developed to address this problem. Whitehead & Kales, Ford, N&W and DT&I jointly developed a Snap-Pak prototype enclosed tri-level car, NW 400000. The car side was made up of overlapping perforated steel sheets. The ends were protected with two trifold doors, and a corrugated steel roof extended the full length of the car. A competing RailPac prototype was developed by Portec-Paragon, Chrysler, and several railroads. It featured mesh screen side panels, vertically sliding three-piece doors, and a similar roof. The Southern Railway and Greenville Steel Car developed a unique 124-foot articulated three-unit Autoguard car with single axle trucks, SOU 599000-599001.


Doesn't say anything specific, I would think it is a balance between cost and weight vs. usability and protection.

For more general information on Autoracks:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autorack

John


----------



## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

...to let the stink air out of the Chevys on their way to the show room... :laugh::thumbsup:


----------



## D&J Railroad (Oct 4, 2013)

When I was a kid, living near the Grand Trunk Railroad in Royal Oak, MI for a few months in 1964, I would go down to the tracks after school to put pennies on the tracks to be flattened. One day while a couple other kids and I were waiting for a train, we noticed some other kids a short way down the tracks, probably waiting to do the same thing. An auto rack train was rolling by with the open racks. The kids down the tracks starting throwing rocks at the new cars on the auto racks. I began throwing ballast rocks at the other kids, hitting a few of them in the process. Apparently, they thought their rocks were bouncing off the train and coming back at them. They left the track side bleeding and hurting. My dad worked for Ford MoCo in the transportation division in Dearborn and I recall him talking about the problem of vandalism of new cars. I told him about what I had done to the other kids and he seemed very proud of me. The next time I went to the tracks, there was a police presence there. Apparently my dad had reported what I had told him.


----------



## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Holes*

So a car load of Fords wouldn't float when they ran it off the pier! 

Traction Fan


----------



## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

The holes are likely for ventilation....I would imagine it could get real hot inside one of those with the summer sun beating down on it.....and maybe the holes also help for wind shear......a strong wind hitting the side of one of those cars could be enough to push it over.....it's happened with rail cars before........


----------



## /6 matt (Jul 7, 2015)

I was also thinking ventilation but more so that high amounts of moisture wouldn't get trapped inside.


----------



## BobS (Jun 18, 2015)

shaygetz said:


> ...to let the stink air out of the Chevys on their way to the show room... :laugh::thumbsup:





traction fan said:


> So a car load of Fords wouldn't float when they ran it off the pier!
> 
> Traction Fan


At first, I thought this post might be a riddle, but, at least a couple of folks got right to the heart of the question. :appl:


----------



## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

BobS said:


> At first, I thought this post might be a riddle, but, at least a couple of folks got right to the heart of the question


Even though those 2 answers are merely jokes.......still searching for the real reason.....


----------



## Rip Track (Dec 15, 2012)

Just spit-balling here , but I wonder if the perforations give the panels more structural rigidity as well weight savings. I've never seen a panel up close. I wonder if the holes are flared on one side. This would help reduce any flexing a solid panel might experience.


----------



## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I can certainly see weight being a factor, also I suspect that proper ventilation of the inside might be an issue that they address.


----------



## cv_acr (Oct 28, 2011)

Old_Hobo said:


> Even though those 2 answers are merely jokes.......still searching for the real reason.....


There was a pretty good non-humorous reason provided in the *very first response* to this thread...


----------



## lmackattack (Oct 21, 2010)

Less Weight, rigidity strength , ventalation and light... Seams all of those would be a win win.


----------



## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

These cars are large, so they transport a lot of cars. The cars are driven in . If they were enclosed you'd need a gas( oxygen) check. Vented for life support.


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

I used to be one of those kids that threw rocks at the new cars. I only did it once though. Not because of any repercussions, but because it was wrong.:smilie_daumenneg:


----------



## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

So I take it you didn't realize it was wrong before you did it that one time?


----------



## flyernut (Oct 31, 2010)

Old_Hobo said:


> So I take it you didn't realize it was wrong before you did it that one time?


Yep, I still did it. The freight passed behind my buddy's dad's shop, and when my buddy heard it approaching, he yelled to everyone to get outside and chuck some rocks. So we did, and that was that.


----------



## TA462 (Oct 17, 2014)

Here is a inside look at a wrecked one. I took these years ago.


----------

