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Are you asking about mechanical designations like XM or XML...
Well first, its flush door not plug door.
I looked at the NP cars because those are the most numerous combination door boxcars I know about and the AAR mechanical designation isn't anything different than a normal box car - XM or XML.
Well first, its flush door not plug door. Jason
It's both... though plug is much more commonly used.Youngstown called them flush, sometimes (I've yet to find a rhyme or reason on that one). I.e, Double Sliding Flush Gear-Operated Doors. The car builders though... called them out as plug doors (i.e, P-S called out the aforementioned doors as 'Aluminum Double Plug Doors' on their drawings)
I think the reason the ORER calls them "flush doors" is because it's aimed at shippers.
My guess is a builder coined a new term for the same thing, but a small part of me wants to think there's some subtle difference between the two that I can search for the next 20 years.
In the case of the NP combination door cars, I think one of the points of these cars was that even though you could have a 14' opening for easier loading, they could still be used in traditional grain loading with the 6' door. So the 'flush' door was to act more like a wall that was flush to the rest of the inside when not in use. This would be opposed to maybe an insulated car where the door did act as a 'plug'.Just some speculation on my part.Jason
P-S did indeed call the doors that they built themselves 'plug' doors.
Youngstown called them flush, sometimes (I've yet to find a rhyme or reason on that one). I.e, Double Sliding Flush Gear-Operated Doors.