My original thread was getting too long…
What criteria must be met for a DPU to be placed mid-train? I’ve been seeing this more and more on both unit trains and mixed trains.
Also, I am seeing many empty center-posters at the beginning, following by loaded cars. Isn’t this a risk to derail?
Thanks in advance.
I can’t answer either question. But as for the empty flats followed by loads, I wonder if this practice is okay on stretches of railroad without any significantly tight surves. ??
NS encountered that very stringlining problem - twice, I believe - at Horse Shoe Curve.
Trains did an article on it recently.
Pending something more authoritative, I’m with LO - at least part of the consideration would be the profile.
Amongst the various considerations, too, has to do with pre-blocking. Arranging a train so that blocks can be dropped at various points (and picked up, for that matter) certainly complicates the issue, at that means that loads and empties necessarily are scattered throughout the train.
The problem that affects center beam and other LIGHT, LONG, EMPTY cars is TRAILING TONNAGE on grades with curvature.
[quote user=“Baltimore Division CSX Timetable”]
Empty Car Placement Instructions for Trains
Empty cars 80 feet and longer must be placed in the train in such a location that the trailing tonnage behind these empty cars does not exceed the amount listed below. In territory where helper locomotives are used on the rear of the train, their tonnage rating should be subtracted to the trailing tonnage listed below when determining the location for the restricted car(s):
Between Direction Tonnage
Hyndman & Sand Patch
Westward 4,750
Connellsville & SandPatch<
The Centerbeam flat cars are notoriously top-heavy–they don’t have thick underframes down below floor level. I nearly had a passed-drawbar incident while working that would have fipped about a half-dozen of them on the yard lead…fortunately, I could grab the loads in the retarder, let the centerbeams right themselves and roll, then it could be fixed the right way with a locomotive making the joints.
I have not seen many centerbram cars up slose, but I am sure that if you examine one carefully, you will see instructions for loading and unloading–you do not fill one side and then fill the other; you balance the overall load as much as is possible–some on one side, as much on the other side plus as much, back to the first side and add more, back to the second side… Unloading is done in reverse–some off, change sides…
Love the stencil of the little stick figure running from a turning over center beam on the inside of the end bulkhead. Some even have added “speed indicating” lines behind the running figure.
Jeff
I wonder how often the load/unloading instructions are ignored.
Probably only once by any given person/crew…
I wonder, though, if anyone has come up with the expedient of placing jacks under the corners of the cars to reduce/eliminate the tipping.
When you consider that the consignee is usually a lumber yard, I’m surprised that tipping doesn’t occur more frequently. I’ve rarely seen lumber yards with a lot of open space on each side of the track.
Yes, one time, whether loading ot unloading, should be enough to make the instructions quite clear. All the loads that I have seen were worked with a forklift, which might caught in the spill when loading.
When my daughter was young she used to like to look for those and laugh at the different ones. Someplace I have a small collection of photos of them. Something to look for when they’re passing at a slow to moderate speed.
He’s related to the guy that always has the plug door falling on his head.
I like their far more attractive second cousin much more:
It’s humor. If the flat, outline plug-door guy is related to the flat, outline guy running away from tipover, why can’t they also be related to the flat, outline mudflap girl?
Note I didn’t bring up their urban relatives from Haring and Harald.
Add the Volkswagen Fahrvergnügen ( promo stick-guy) and the Nine-Inch Nails logo w
…and then
With the meat cleaver to the list… and then there are all the anglisized take-offs on that theme
Link to one of the center beam warnings (3rd photo):
http://www.trainweb.org/mccloudrails/Equipment/Centerbeams.html
I did find some others - one had some profane graffiti added - but I can’t locate them now.
Quite interesting, Paul. The only warning I have read indicated that no more than two layers should loaded or unloaded before moving to the other side and, again, moving no more than two layers past leaving/adding and then moving to the other side. That is, no more than a two layer imbalance…
That’s a practical interpretation of what Paul’s warning says.
If we were to ‘literally’ follow what that warning calls for, we’d need coordinated lifts from both sides of the car at once, I might add starting alternately from the ends toward the middle in a coherent pattern, so that the added weight is ‘exactly’ balanced side-to-side at any point. My opinion is that this is lawyer CYA; you can’t argue in court with what the ‘manufacturer’ or ‘owner’ has said about keeping the balance exact, exact, exact even if in ‘practice’ that’s functionally ignored…
I’d note that with palleted loads the ‘two-layer’ weight might be greatly exceeded modularly, to the point where you well might want to alternate ‘sides’ even piece by piece. Especially if the side-bearing clearance is excessive, or the truck springing compromised, or the track ‘soft’ or inclining to one side…