Western Railroad Discussion > I.D. this car's lot in life?

I spotted this NP flat that appears to have been modified for a special use. Anyone know what for?

Southbound BNSF out of Tacoma. Same train had to setout a car of poles. Load shifted, most of the side stakes (6x6's) snapped off.

Steve Carter
MSVRR
Northern Division.

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Centralia North DS thought it was best to set this out, rather than dump the load in the Nelson Bennett Tunnel.

I found it interesting how each of the stakes sheared off at what appears to be the same angle.


Some guy walked right up to the car to take a close look. Those last stakes fail while you're standing there and it'd ruin your whole day.

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The "wheel stop" kinda makes me nervous as well.

Matthew
http://RosterPix.com

I noticed that too.

Do you suppose it does any good at all. I mean gee if it wasn't moving before placing the stick under the wheel, would the stick really keep it from moving after, say, a great gust of wind?

Any of our rail professionals care to comment?

Steve Carter
MSVRR
Northern Division

I think this flat with the steel box on it is an idler car. I have seen them used with the overhanging airplane bodies that are shipped by rail. Wondered about the box..maybe weight to keep it from stringlining?
Roger Beckett

Well that wheel chock will hold a car that is stationary, IF it doesn't get bumped too hard when coupling into it.

As far as the load goes, I don't see any stakes that are sheered off. It seems there are three on the far end, one in the middle and three on the close end. As best as I can tell, there are the same number on the other side, and wired together quite a bit to keep them in line. Are you sure this car was set-out due to shifted load?

6088 Wrote:
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> Well that wheel chock will hold a car that is
> stationary, IF it doesn't get bumped too hard when
> coupling into it.
>
> As far as the load goes, I don't see any stakes
> that are sheered off. It seems there are three on
> the far end, one in the middle and three on the
> close end. As best as I can tell, there are the
> same number on the other side, and wired together
> quite a bit to keep them in line. Are you sure
> this car was set-out due to shifted load?
>
>

I think this was the area of the stakes DelMonteX was talking about.
John

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In my experience, the stick is called a "trig" and is used in addition to setting the handbrake and, yes, it will likely hold the car along with the handbrake.

When a wooden stake shears off, it's usually along the grain, not a straight crack across the grain like the picture shows at the bottom of the stakes. And even if one stake sheared off that way, it's not really likely that they all did, which the picture seems to suggest. Instead, I suspect that the 'crack' is a some sort of wrapping/wiring that was put on the stakes before the bottom layer of logs was loaded. Then after each log layer, another set of wiring was strung between the stakes from one side to the other.

It looks as if the real problem is that the load is overhanging the side of the car. If there is a tunnel in the area with close clearances this might be enough to set it out. There would be a real problem if one of those 6x6 posts hit the inside wall of the tunnel.

Todd

Don't poles usually go by bulkhead flat cars?

mirage Wrote:
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> When a wooden stake shears off, it's usually along
> the grain, not a straight crack across the grain
> like the picture shows at the bottom of the
> stakes. And even if one stake sheared off that
> way, it's not really likely that they all did,
> which the picture seems to suggest.

I agree, that's what really piqued my interest.

Here's a closeup shot, that should show that the stakes actually sheared or snapped off just above the deck of the flat car.

Steve Carter

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DelMonteX Wrote:
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> I noticed that too.
>
> Do you suppose it does any good at all. I mean
> gee if it wasn't moving before placing the stick
> under the wheel, would the stick really keep it
> from moving after, say, a great gust of wind?
>
> Any of our rail professionals care to comment?
>
> Steve Carter
> MSVRR
> Northern Division
On the SP we referred to this piece of wood as a"chunk" and yes, it would hold the car in place. Way back we would use a chunk in place of handbrakes if no gradient conditions applied. Most of the time when spotting cars at an industry, we would chunk it instead of tieing a handbrake. But, alas, times have changed.

SLO
save your ticket..... the P.E. will rise again.

That looks to smooth to be a break, looks more like it was cut with a saw or cable.

6 out of 14 were that way!