The well might be off-center to facilitate loading or unloading in the plant–obviously only the A end is allowed to be stuck in a certain place, for some reason.
A better clue to the reason might be found when we find the previous identities of these cars. Whenever they were acquired (mid-1998, from the looks of things), they were renumbered because there were already 20000-series cars with DCCX reporting marks.
I think that could mean that there is a special loading dock for these cars and “This end of railcar in” means that that is the end that has to go in first for the cars to be loaded properley
while just my[2c]
Joe
It is for hauling fuselages or wings…the well is a storage box for the blue rack or possible a counter weight?..the red oval shapes are supports for the fuselage …note the slot down the center of the car, the racks pivot and slide to custom fit wings or…?
“This end in” means this end into the plant or load out first…note the short hand rails on the crossover platforms, and the short height hand brake, it is designed to have parts overhang the ends.
Washington State is where Boeing is and aircraft are born.
The Boeing 787 first article is going together in Seattle (probably Renton) as we speak, with the fuselage sections coming from Wichita, I believe. The aircraft is due for first flight in a few weeks.
I have only seen these cars once. That was at the Dolores Yard (Carson, CA). Unfortunately, container cars were obstructing the views of all other cars in the yard, as usual.
I suspect one of their destinations is the Boeing (ex-McDonnell Douglas) plant at Long Beach or one of the ports. It appears that their other destination is the plant at Saint Louis, MO (http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/srchThumbs.aspx?srch=DCCX&search=Search).
My 2 cents.
Wing transporter that can double to carry a “slice” of very wide body fusalage. Postulate that what Chad saw is a “slice”. Blue parts are supports, brown/rust parts appear to be tarped and would be the load.
But then, maybe not.
Hello guys,
The 787 fuselage sections are actually fabricated in southern Italy by a division of Alenia. They are then transported to an Alenia facility in South Carolina aboard a specially modified 747-400. How they get to their final destination at Boeing, I’m not sure of. They are made by robotic carbon fiber lay-up machines that apply the fiber in alternating directions and layers across a rotating mandrel, most impressive to watch! This is the first large commercial, all-composite airliner. Boeing predicts a 20% fuel savings. This is practically unheard of in fuel reduction for large aircraft. The leap in technology is like going from piston engines to turbines.
Later,
Gregory
Thanks for the info Gregory
Sounds right; I was relying on faulty memory, I guess. I do recall seeing a couple of pictures of the modified -400 before it was painted (if it has been since, in fact, I don’t know) and it looked like a regular 747 that had been stung by bees. A retired aero that I see frequently remarked that some of the freight haulers had expressed interest in the modified form.
Its an ungainly looking critter, thats for sure. In the past, I read somewhere that all that extra fuselage area doesn’t penalize the performance of the aircraft too much. Since the 787 fuselage sections aren’t completely outfitted with all the systems when they are shipped, the 747-400 DreamLifter probably isn’t lifting anywhere near it’s maximum payload.
Gregory
Quite a while back, ACF Industries “spun” a Center Flow hopper out of fiberglass and other composite materials. They called it the “Glasshopper” (maybe “Glashopper”). It was never duplicated, and I don’t know whether the original survives.
Here is a photograph of he Boeing plant at Saint Lous. Notice the spur going into the northeast part of the plant.
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=38.755388,-90.342979&spn=0.009538,0.023518&t=h&z=16&om=1
By the way, those are not the only specialized aviation related cars in southern California. There are several “Skybox” cars that travel between Hawthorn, CA and the Seattle area (Bellingham if I remember correctly).
http://www.railgoat.railfan.net/spcars/byclass/flat/f070-41.htm
It looks like their western destination is actually a crane and heavy haul company. Perhaps they transport them from the Boeing plant in Long Beach and load them into cars at their yard, or vice versa.