Note the total absence of trucks under the carbodies. I’d be willing to wager that there are more truck-laden flatcars out of frame to the left.
Definitely a different load, but the idea isn’t unfamiliar to me. Buried among my ‘surprise package’ waybills are three, two of which reference 762mm gauge rolling stock to be delivered to my narrow gauge connection. The other is for a battery motor to be delivered to my larger coal mine.
That’s a cool picture. I’ve seen lots of wrecked loco’s on flat cars but never any new ones. Up here they tend to run new loco’s for export up near the front and on the rails. I’ve built a retired Algoma Central GP9 load on a flat car.
Very cool picture. I wonder if this was for tax purposes? Maybe final assembly or delivery had to be in the state or country of the railroad’s headquarters or operations. I know some railroads took delivery of new locos in certain states for tax reasons in years past.
I have a few extra N scale bodies/frames that I’ve been looking at, doing the chin stroking HMMMN and now I know what to do with them----Now, if only I knew how they blocked/chocked that type of load—
I’m thinking of a couple of reasons for separating the trucks. First, it reduces the weight on the individual cars, and second it reduces the overall height of the locomotive load. Putting a locomotive on top of a flat car would likely exceed NMRA standards, at least.
Since the caption talked about “export,” they might also be heading for a boat ride before they get home. So, they’ll have to be loaded by crane.
That is correct! If my memory serves me correctly these units are heading for a southern country like Brazil where the track is narrower then ours. I’ve seen photos where engines heading for the middle east like Egypt are simply pulled behind just like in this shot:
Just a quick question for anyone more familiar with RR ops than I. I noticed in most of the pics where locomotives or train cars are being carried or pulled in a train, there is a gondola between the lead loco and the rest of the train. Is it to provide better visibility for the engine crew, or crushability[%-)] factor in case of an oops? Gerry S.
It’s for end-impact collision protection, the theory being that, if the tie-downs fail in a front-end collision, the heavy lading (which could also be logs, structural shapes or heavy machinery) will end up on the gondola rather than in the cab of the trailing locomotive.
As for overhead clearance being a problem when locomotives are loaded on flat cars, when the Strasburg took delivery of their 4-8-0 it had to wait until the late-night hours when the catenary on the connecting line could be de-energized. The stack clearance was a nominal five inches - possible arc-over distance at 11,000 volts.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - partially under virtual catenary)
Another variation. I have heard in the 1st half of 20th century of a run called the PROSPERITY SPECIAL. New locomotives would be delivered via a train made up entirely of 25 brand new locomotives and a caboose.