Open top gondola railcars

An open top gondola railcar, comprising:

• (a) a floor having opposed sides and opposed ends;
• (b) opposed side walls attached to the opposed sides of the floor;
• (c) opposed end walls attached to the opposed ends of the floor;
• (d) a plurality of spaced cross bearers attached to the floor, wherein the floor, the opposed side walls, the opposed end walls, and the plurality of spaced cross bearers define a car body having an internal compartment and a pair of opposed ends;
• (e) a pair of wheeled trucks supporting the car body, each of the trucks being located adjacent a respective one of the pair of opposed ends;
• (f) one or more cleanout openings of the floor, the one or more cleanout openings each defined by a floor perimeter;
• and
• (g) a closure assembly for each of the one or more cleanout openings, the closure assembly including:
• (1) a closure member that includes a closure perimeter and is sized to be received in a respective cleanout opening of the one or more cleanout openings, the closure member, when received in the respective opening, spans a substantial portion of the respective cleanout opening to define at least one gap between the closure perimeter and the floor perimeter,
• (2) a sealing member fixedly attached to, or formed with, the closure member and having a hole, the sealing member, when the closure member is received in the respective cleanout opening, spans between the floor perimeter and the closure perimeter to cover the at least one gap, and
• (3) a tethering member having opposed first and second end portions, the first end portion being received in the hole of the sealing member and fixedly attached to the closure member and the second end portion being attached to one of the floor or a cross bearer of the plurality of spaced cross bearers.