Boxcar sliding door - Yea or Nay?

[sed6]

I want to build some boxcars and am seeking some ideas and opinions. I'm feeling limited in my design by the few sizes and colors sliding doors pieces are available in. I'm considering a brick built door that slides but don't know how to go about it. 

I've looked at lots of pics of custom boxcars and while the good ones have doors that look like they slide, I cannot imagine how they work. Most seem too thin or the rails look nonfunctional. The BMR boxcars are a great example, do those doors slide open?

Can anyone share share a pic or an idea of how they or someone else built a brick built sliding door?

Finally, should I even make the doors slide? Do you think it adds a certain detail or character or playability that you find necessary or desirable? Or do you subscribe to a form over function thinking when building?

Thanks!

 

 

 

[Larry Andersen]

The boxcars I have built with sliding doors used the "raingutter" plates as the rails and a door that Lego made just to slide on them.

[ColletArrow]

I (always!) say that if you can make something work realistically, do it. It ultimately depends on how much you care about the appearance of the finished model; working, custom sliding doors are always going to be more bulky than purely cosmetic ones, or the parts [door on rail] I assume you were describing as "limiting".

Many models simply use static doors that *look* like they move, as on the BMR Boxcars (as far as I can tell, from pictures). However, there are many ways of making doors slide; I think the simplest, if you're OK having 1-brick thick doors, is to use the 2x8 version of the rail top and bottom (as done for building doors, e.g. 7945 Fire Station). Thinner doors are possible using LEGO geometry; a door of tiles-over-plates can be held vertical by a rail of 1x4x1 panels. I was designing this yesterday, for a building:

The top of the door is kept behind the 1x8 tile by a 2x2 tile with studs. I'm not sure whether this is a suitable design for a railway wagon; it depends on how wide your models typically are, and hence how bulky the doors can be without looking odd. These are just my thoughts though!

[CSW652]

I am also interested in this.  I have built one box car and started on a second.  The first uses the Lego sliding door part and for the most part is fine, but with one door on each side, it doesn't latch and tends to slide open occassionally.  The other thing I noticed is the door colors are limited, expensive and hard to find.

I am also trying to figure out how to make a fake plug door and if anyone has suggestions on how to do it.

 

Edited October 23, 2018 by CSW652

[sed6]

7 hours ago, ColletArrow said:

I (always!) say that if you can make something work realistically, do it. It ultimately depends on how much you care about the appearance of the finished model; working, custom sliding doors are always going to be more bulky than purely cosmetic ones, or the parts [door on rail] I assume you were describing as "limiting".

Many models simply use static doors that *look* like they move, as on the BMR Boxcars (as far as I can tell, from pictures). However, there are many ways of making doors slide; I think the simplest, if you're OK having 1-brick thick doors, is to use the 2x8 version of the rail top and bottom (as done for building doors, e.g. 7945 Fire Station). Thinner doors are possible using LEGO geometry; a door of tiles-over-plates can be held vertical by a rail of 1x4x1 panels. I was designing this yesterday, for a building:

The top of the door is kept behind the 1x8 tile by a 2x2 tile with studs. I'm not sure whether this is a suitable design for a railway wagon; it depends on how wide your models typically are, and hence how bulky the doors can be without looking odd. These are just my thoughts though!

Excellent ideas, thanks! I appreciate the links to the parts on BL to help me understand what you suggest!

[pagicence]

Did you look Echaton's box cars on Rebrickable?