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A Schnabel car or Schnabel wagon is a specialized type of railroad freight car. It is designed to carry heavy and oversized loads in such a way that the load makes up part of the car. The load is suspended between the two ends of the cars by lifting arms; the lifting arms are connected to an assembly of span bolsters that distribute the weight of the load and the lifting arm over many wheels.
When a Schnabel car is empty, the two lifting arms are connected to one another and the car can usually operate at normal freight train speeds. Some Schnabel cars include hydraulic equipment that will either lift or horizontally shift the load while in transit (at very low speeds) to clear obstructions along the car's route. As of 2012, there were 31 Schnabel cars operating in Europe, 30 in North America, 25 in Asia, and one in Australia. [1]
The largest Schnabel car in public railroads operation, reporting number WECX 801, was completed in 2012 by Kasgro Railcar for Westinghouse Nuclear and is used in North America primarily to transport reactor containment vessels. [1] It has 36 axles (18 for each half). Each half contains nine trucks which are connected by a complex system of span bolsters. Its tare (unloaded) weight is 399.6 short tons (362.5 t ; 356.8 long tons ) and has a load limit of 1,017.9 short tons (923.4 t; 908.8 long tons) for a maximum gross weight of 1,417.5 short tons (1,285.9 t; 1,265.6 long tons). WECX 801 has the ability to shift its load 44 inches (112 cm) vertically and up to 40 inches (102 cm) laterally on either side of the car's center line. [2] When empty, this car measures 231 ft (70 m ) long; for comparison, a conventional boxcar currently operating on North American railroads has a single two-axle truck at each end of the car, measures 50 to 89 feet (15.24 to 27.13 m) long and has a capacity of 70 to 105 short tons (64 to 95 t; 63 to 94 long tons). The train's speed is limited to 25 mph (40 km/h) when WECX 801 is empty, but only 15 mph (24 km/h) when loaded, and the system requires a crew of six operators in addition to the train's crew. [1]
The second largest Schnabel car in service, owned by ABB, bears the CEBX 800 registration, and is used in North America. Built by Krupp AG, it has 36 axles (18 for each half). Each half has 9 bogies linked together by a complex system of span bolsters. Its tare weight (empty mass) is 370 tonnes (360 long tons; 410 short tons). When empty, this wagon is 70.6 m (232 ft) long. It can carry a load of 34.5 m (113 ft) long and 852.3 tonnes (838.8 long tons; 939.5 short tons). By comparison, a classic boxcar has only one bogie with two axles at each end, is about 15 meters (49 ft) long and carries a load that does not exceed 80 tonnes (79 long tons; 88 short tons). [3]
The word Schnabel is from German Tragschnabelwagen, meaning "carrying-beak-wagon", because of the usually tapered shape of the lifting arms, resembling a bird's beak.
In World War II the German Wehrmacht used Schnabel cars for transporting the Karl-Gerät heavy-calibre (54 cm and 60 cm calibre) siege mortars. These were self-propelled with a continuous-track suspension chassis of substantial length to maneuver into a firing position over a short range, but depended on a pair of purpose-designed Schnabel cars for long-range transport by rail. [4] The same system was also used at the same time for the rail transport of the French FCM 2C super-heavy armoured fighting vehicle.
In the United States, the first Schnabel car, WECX 200, was built for Westinghouse Nuclear by manufacturer Greenville Steel Car in the 1960s. [1]
The Schnabel design was covered under US patent #US 4041879A [5]
Class number | Maximum carrying capacity | Tare weight | Wheelsets | Quantity (DB as at 31 Dec 1997) | Length over buffers | Bogie pivot spacing or wheelset spacing | Length of low loading bay |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Uaai 812 [6] [7] | 159 t (156 long tons; 175 short tons) | 41,000 kg 90,000 lb | 10 | 1 | 19,704 mm 64 ft 7+3⁄4 in | 8,970 mm 29 ft 5+1⁄8 in | N/A |
Uaai 820 [8] | 157 t (155 long tons; 173 short tons) | 83,100 kg 183,200 lb | 12 | 1 | 31,440 mm 103 ft 1+3⁄4 in | 19,100 mm 62 ft 8 in | 8,500 mm 27 ft 10+5⁄8 in |
Uaai 821 [9] | 190 t (190 long tons; 210 short tons) (180 t (180 long tons; 200 short tons) with suspension bars) | 83,800 kg 184,700 lb | 12 | 1 | 30,124 mm 98 ft 10 in | 19,100 mm 62 ft 8 in | 8,000 mm 26 ft 3 in |
Uaai 823 [10] | 230 t (230 long tons; 250 short tons) | 102.2 t 100.6 long tons; 112.7 short tons | 16 | 1 | 37,080 mm 121 ft 7+7⁄8 in | N/A | N/A |
Uaai 831 [11] | 275 t (271 long tons; 303 short tons) (250 t (250 long tons; 280 short tons) with suspension bars) | 170,000 kg 370,000 lb | 20 | 2 | 45,120 mm 148 ft 3⁄8 in | 18,730 mm 61 ft 5+3⁄8 in 28,330 mm 92 ft 11+3⁄8 in | N/A |
Uaai 836 [12] | 317 t (312 long tons; 349 short tons) | 82.870 kg 182.70 lb | 20 | 1 | 31,800 mm 104 ft 4 in | 15,300 mm 50 ft 2+3⁄8 in | N/A |
Uaai 837 [13] | 398 t (392 long tons; 439 short tons) | N/A | 24 | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Uaai 838 (313 t (308 long tons; 345 short tons) with suspension bars) [14] | N/A | 341 t (336 long tons; 376 short tons) | 24 | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Uaai 839 [15] | 454 t (447 long tons; 500 short tons) | N/A | 32 | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
The Class Uaai low-loading wagon with special equipment is marketed Europe-wide exclusively by the heavy load department, Heavy Cargo + Service, of Nuclear Cargo + Service. [16] [17]
A semi-trailer truck, is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer attaches to the tractor with a type of hitch called a fifth wheel.
A road train, also known as a land train or long combination vehicle (LCV) is a trucking vehicle used to move road freight more efficiently than semi-trailer trucks. It consists of one semi-trailer or more connected together with or without a tractor.
An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearings or bushings are provided at the mounting points where the axle is supported. In the latter case, a bearing or bushing sits inside a central hole in the wheel to allow the wheel or gear to rotate around the axle. Sometimes, especially on bicycles, the latter type of axle is referred to as a spindle.
A railroad car, railcar, railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck, also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is a vehicle used for the carrying of cargo or passengers on a rail transport network. Such cars, when coupled together and hauled by one or more locomotives, form a train. Alternatively, some passenger cars are self-propelled in which case they may be either single railcars or make up multiple units.
A dump truck, known also as a dumping truck, dump trailer, dumper trailer, dump lorry or dumper lorry or a dumper for short, is used for transporting materials for construction as well as coal. A typical dump truck is equipped with an open-box bed, which is hinged at the rear and equipped with hydraulic rams to lift the front, allowing the material in the bed to be deposited ("dumped") on the ground behind the truck at the site of delivery. In the UK, Australia, South Africa and India the term applies to off-road construction plants only and the road vehicle is known as a tip lorry, tipper lorry, tipper truck, tip truck, tip trailer or tipper trailer or simply a tipper.
A refrigerator car is a refrigerated boxcar (U.S.), a piece of railroad rolling stock designed to carry perishable freight at specific temperatures. Refrigerator cars differ from simple insulated boxcars and ventilated boxcars, neither of which are fitted with cooling apparatus. Reefers can be ice-cooled, come equipped with any one of a variety of mechanical refrigeration systems, or utilize carbon dioxide as a cooling agent. Milk cars may or may not include a cooling system, but are equipped with high-speed trucks and other modifications that allow them to travel with passenger trains.
A flatcar (US) is a piece of rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck mounted on a pair of trucks (US) or bogies (UK), one at each end containing four or six wheels. Occasionally, flat cars designed to carry extra heavy or extra large loads are mounted on a pair of bogies under each end. The deck of the car can be wood or steel, and the sides of the deck can include pockets for stakes or tie-down points to secure loads. Flatcars designed for carrying machinery have sliding chain assemblies recessed in the deck.
A span bolster, in rail terminology, is a beam or frame used to link two trucks (US) or bogies (UK) so that they can be articulated together and be joined to the locomotive or railroad car at one rotating mounting point. In effect, they make one "super-truck" out of the two, while permitting each truck to move relative to the other.
The axle load of a wheeled vehicle is the total weight bearing on the roadway for all wheels connected to a given axle. Axle load is an important design consideration in the engineering of roadways and railways, as both are designed to tolerate a maximum weight-per-axle ; exceeding the maximum rated axle load will cause damage to the roadway or railway tracks.
Iore, often stylized IORE, is a class of 34 electric locomotives built by Adtranz and its successor Bombardier Transportation for the Swedish mining company LKAB's railway division Malmtrafik. The class is a variation of Adtranz's Octeon modular product platform, thus related to Bombardier's later TRAXX platform. The locomotives are considered to be one of the most powerful locomotives and haul iron ore freight trains on the Iron Ore Line and Ofoten Line in Sweden and Norway, respectively. The 8,600-tonne 68-car trains are hauled by two single-ended Co′Co′ locomotives, each with a power output of 5,400 kW (7,200 hp). Each operates with 600 kilonewtons tractive effort and has a maximum speed of 80 km/h (50 mph). Delivery of the first series of 18 locomotives was made from 2000 to 2004, and they replaced some of the aging Dm3 and El 15 units. In 2007, eight more vehicles were ordered, with production to be completed by 2011, by which time, another four double units were ordered. These units were scheduled to be delivered from 2013 to 2014.
SA3 couplers or Willison coupler and Russian coupler are railway couplings used primarily in Russia and states influenced by the former Soviet Union, such as Finland, Poland, and Mongolia.
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The International Union of Railways groups all special classes of railway goods wagon into Class U in its goods wagon classification system.
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