Years ago I decided to go with scale length cars so this suggestion doesn't appeal to me but I'm sure the shorter cars would meet a need for modelers with smaller layouts. However, a lot would depend on the aesthetics of how the shortening was done. Do you make the windows more narrow and keep the correct window layout or do you reduce the number of windows? It would be interesting to see a drawing of a full scale car and its shortened cousin side by side.
Would shortened cars appeal to the 2 rail scale folks at all?
Ken