On the Rochelle web cam 4/7/17 was a BNSF train with a depressed center flat car behind the locos followed by 6-8 boxcars, another depressed flatcar and a yellow caboose. Any ideas?
What did the loads look like? Any placards? What reporting marks on caboose?
The “extra” cars might have been added for braking purposes.
Ed
Or to space loads apart for bridge rating, etc.
The caboose says it was either going to have to be backed a long distance sometime in the journey or the cargo need personell to be with it for some reason.
Besides a Schnabel, what would a depressed center flat car be?
Overly sad? [:P]
A depressed center flat will serve to lower the high part of a high and wide, and likely lower the center of gravity as well.
Well, I hadn’t thought of sad, but…
So a Schnabel car! Which is exactly what they do. Do they make anything other than a Schnabel that would fit that description?
No - this is a depressed center flat (or a model thereof…):
Here’s a real one:
This is a Schnabel, without a load. 
The big difference is that a depressed center flat is always complete, and the load is placed on top of it. With a Schabel car, the load is part of the structure of the car.
Nice, complete answer, Larry! [bow]
OK - I am off to do some google reading…
I try…
Do not be mislead by the depressed center flatcars. They’re but subterfuge. The real part of the train consisted of those boxcars. Those were Department of Homeland Security shackle cars. Unfortunately, you didn’t get an precise count of the shackle cars. Now we’ll never know.
For those of you who aren’t paranoid (which doesn’t mean they aren’t after you), high-wide loads often move with additional cars of parts that go with the high-wide load. I haven’t seen the photo, so I don’t know if the car is a Schnabel, but Schnabels can shift a load a bit from side to side to clear particular obstacles, and need someone along to work the controls - which might explain the caboose. It’s more comfortable than riding on the deck of the Schnabel.
Yes, riding inseide a caboose would be more comfortable than riding the deck of Schnable car–especially in bad weather.[:)]
In the past, they’ve always painted the shackle cars white - maybe they’re camouflaging them now…
And tried to disguise them by painting BNSF on the sides.
I’m sure that was meant tongue-in-cheek, but you’d be surprised-or perhaps not- by the number of people who believe that story. Gotta love good conspiracy theories if for no other reason than watching/listening to those people can be entertaining. [}:)]
Yes, several years ago, there was quite a bit about the idea that auto racks were actually prison cars, and there were other far-fetched ideas about this and that which were connected with the operation of railroads. It seems to have died down considerably, but it still amuses me when one or another of our posters throws this out.
The conspiricy theorist that believe they are “FEMA” cars are disulsional and refuse to believe that the autoracks are for transporting autos and are in no way suitable for carrying people even when shown clear photos of the interiors and videos of the cars being loaded/unloaded.