Forgive me for perhaps a dumb question, but do railroads use those 60’ auto parts boxcars for freight other than auto parts…or are they so specially designed with interior gear that they are used exclusively to ship auto engines and fabricated parts
Appliances, paper, hay (if the agent could steal one), consumer goods. etc. Pretty much any clean lading.
This assumes that the cars have been removed from parts service, not just empty auto parts cars. “Empty” auto parts cars in many cases aren’t empty. They are filled with the loading racks/bins for the parts going back to the parts supplier.
Dave H.
There was recently a thread about this on the General Discussion.
The reason those cars exist at all has to do with the fact that the AAR allows axle loadings of 80,000# per axle. That is why ore cars are small and 86’ high cubes are large. So… anything that is bulky and light is a good load for those cars subject to the loading dock and track curvature ability to handle them.
80,000 lbs per axle for freight cars seems a little high(??) Ore cars tip the scales at about 140,000-150,000 lbs, which would be 35,000-37,500 lbs per axle. A typical 50’ autobox would weigh about 120,000 lbs, 30,000 lbs per axle.
80,000 lbs per axle would mean a freight car could weigh 320,000 lbs. But then I don’t know what the modern huge 85’ autoboxes weigh, maybe they are that heavy??
80,000# is the limit (at least I think it is). Somebody will correct me if I am wrong. Nothing say’s they have to carry that much weight. 86’ box cars are probably at the limit of length also as are autoracks. The car purpose remains regardless of the weight per axle. The lighter and bulkier it is the more likely it will be in an oversize car.
100 ton cars weigh 263,000 lbs. This allows for 200,000 ibs. for the load, and 63,000 lbs. for tare. This means 65,750 lbs. per axle.
Railroads are currently building infrastructure for 286,000 lbs. which equates to 125 ton cars. This works out to 71,500 lbs per axle.
DAW
Here is a link to some photos of cars now in service on the Quebec Central. The cars have had their roof removed and are now used to haul woodchips.
Almost all of the main lines in the U.S. are now authorized for 286K cars, but many branch lines, running tracks, industry leads, etc., are not. As a result 286K cars are dominant for unit train type moves of coal, grain, and double-stack traffic – these cars that will be able to economically live their entire life on 286K-cleared lines – but most tankcar and other loose-car traffic continues to move in 263K cars and most new cars intended for the loose-car business continue to be 263K cars.
The next plateau is 315K (125-ton cars, lading weight) which are very uncommon except for double-stack cars and some covered hoppers. The North American rail industry is not in a big hurry to step up coal and grain to this next plateau because of rail wear and track geometry issues. Australia’s Pilbara iron-ore lines are at this plateau because they are private roads without interchange considerations and thus can control wheel and rail profile and surface to the degree necessary.
We are designing and constructing all new bridges to Cooper E-80 rating (80,000 lb. axle loading).
RWM
On the original topic:
Years ago, a gentleman engaged in a discussion about how much a high-cubic-capacity vehicle could carry made the comment that it could be maxed in cubic without even approaching its weight capacity. When asked to give an example, he replied, “A gazillion ping-pong balls.”
So, what if some astute manufacturer came up with a cheap, ecologically friendly technique to manufacture ping-pong balls but wasn’t interested in assembling table tennis kits on the same site. I could imagine a Hi-cube a day leaving that plant for some centrally-located site where its contents could be combined with the outputs of places making paddles, nets etc. to assemble nicely-packaged kits for the retail trade.
Nah. The kits all come from China, in a container.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Could try an 86’ car filled with helium balloons, but it might float away. [:o)]
BTW I wonder if Mr.Moose got his ping-pong balls by the carload??