Hi Ben,
Several things for your consideration. First, flatcar #118 was one of the "newer" flatcars, so it's length is basically the same as boxcar 309, not like the shorter flatcars of the W&Q. Next, most of the flatcars had (and we still have) boards that were held up by the stakes in the stake pockets. There were plans for "hopper" cars, of which I believe flatcar #118 was to be a part of; the truss rods were bunched on each side so that sections of the floor could have been hinged to open. The sides and ends would have mounted into the stake pockets, too. The Maine State Archives has the original plans from the Portland Company. In fact, there was a discussion here on the forum several years ago that centered around what car(s) t build next, and a hopper car had been proposed for hauling ballast for constructing the Mountain Extension. As it was, we managed to build it without a special freight car. There was also the issue at the time of lacking spare complete trucks and couplers to build a freight car that was just that - a freight car - and not something like a flat car, which can have slatted sides and bench seats installed for carrying passengers.
Hopefully someone else will chime in with a link to the other post on the forum that discussed the hopper cars.
Dave Crow
