I always wondered why British freight cars around pre and post war eras were generally smaller (shorter) than American freight cars. Im guessing its because we tend to ship more stuff by rail but I could be wrong.
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Clearances are tighter on British railroads than the US, hence the smaller equipment.
You still couldn't run a US proportioned SD70Ace on British Rail today.
Although EMD managed to cram an SD40-2 into the British loading gauge:
Plus, the railroad equipment on the European continent also consisted of mostly of 4 wheel rolling stock in those days.
The British are no slouches when it comes to shipping by rail. They just run shorter trains more often.
Rusty
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Gentlemen,
Rusty is absolutely correct, spend some time in Euro, and see what he is talking about, course the Orient Express was a different matter.
PCRR/Dave
Although EMD managed to cram an SD40-2 into the British loading gauge:
Just an FYI- the Picture above is NOT the class 59 [Foster Yeoman EMD sd40-2] but of a Class 66 which is equal to an EMD Sd70.
The Class 59 looks more like this:
The modified HTC trucks are the dead giveaway.
Also note the locomotive numbers. The first two digits are the class of locomotive.
Originally Posted by prrhorseshoecurve:
Although EMD managed to cram an SD40-2 into the British loading gauge:
Just an FYI- the Picture above is NOT the class 59 [Foster Yeoman EMD sd40-2] but of a Class 66 which is equal to an EMD Sd70.
The Class 59 looks more like this:
The modified HTC trucks are the dead giveaway.
Also note the locomotive numbers. The first two digits are the class of locomotive.
Either way, both are a LOT of locomotive in a small package 
.
Rusty
I know the height clearances are smaller than here. I meant the length of some cars for example this woodside boxcar and this British van, it just seems like most of their cars are half the length of our cars here. I was just curious why that was or if they look smaller than they really are. These two might not be the best comparison.
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Originally Posted by bmccarron:
I know the height clearances are smaller than here. I meant the length of some cars for example this woodside boxcar and this British van, it just seems like most of their cars are half the length of our cars here. I was just curious why that was or if they look smaller than they really are. These two might not be the best comparison.
Besides the tighter clearances, they also have weight limitations, i.e. very low axle loadings. Not to mention their vacuum braking and buffer system, long trains are pretty much out of the question. Unless of course they have the American automatic type couplers and full air brake systems, such as the Foster Yeoman rock train consists.
I also remember reading somewhere that the short lengths allow for greater flexibility as traffic levels fluctuate. In other words, no worries about hauling partially-loaded cars; what may only fill one-third or one half of an American 40-foot box car will fill up a British goods van.
