somebody must have some lumber to move.a csx train with engine 68 and 2 up units was westbound with all bulkhead cars.should be by garrett by now.
stay safe
Joe
One of my fondest memories is watching the pulpwood loader fill up bulkhead flats with 5’ “sticks”. The yard sat across from grandma’s house and every now and then, the local would show up and pick up 2-3 cars.
Just checking, Joe–are these bulkhead flats, or Center-divided flat cars (FBC)? FBCs (“Center-Beam” is, or was, a trade name of one manufacturer) are the car of choice for lumber now. Bulkhead cars are usually used to carry steel products these days, or possibly wallboard (which may be wider than the four feet that an FBC can accommodate).
I tried to see if I could get a heads-up at home here, but can’t find anything on this particular train coming to the Chicago area (that doesn’t mean that it isn’t coming through here–just isn’t on my “radar”).
I see center beams on sidings in storage all over the country. If that is what is moving west could it be someone is buying lumber?
carl
they are center divided flats and they were all of the yellow ttx variety except one brown conrail.
stay safe
joe
TTX is a rail car lease company they are also the ones that have the box cars that any load any road painted on them
This may be why you are seeing them .
AAR has been advised of eight center sill failures in the above referenced series (123 cars). Some of the center sills have cracked and failed in the web area inboard of the body bolster resulting in at least one derailment.
The 70-ton gross rail load (GRL) bulkhead cars in question were converted from pulpwood service to plate steel service by reducing the height of the bulkheads and installing permanent load bearing risers on the car deck.
The Lake Michigan & Indiana Railroad has stopped the shipper from loading these cars and is working with the car owner to have the cars shopped as they return empty. The car owner is having an engineering firm inspect some of the failed cars and present a repair method to the Equipment Engineering Committee for review.
In accordance with the provisions of Field Manual 125, this Early Warning is assigned Severity Code 06: AAR Defined—Stop Car Loaded or Empty; Inspect.
Empty Cars: request home shop disposition.
Loaded Cars: transfer load and home shop car.
I’ve seen some of those ex-pulpwood cars, and that’s not what Joe’s been seeing. I’ve also seen references to movement of solid blocks of these cars in the western part of the country, but can’t find or figure out what’s going on.
Nor can I connect Joe’s sighting to the ones out west–had the train Joe saw come to visit me at work, it would have been easy. But if it did, I can’t find documentation of it.
Carknocker, do you have the series for those faulty flat cars?
Here is the series , and from what I understand this list will grow
Flat Cars with Defective Center Sills—LMIC 20109-406577
Thanks! That makes sense–these aren’t the ones I was thinking of, but are older cars that CSX unloaded.