Well, no pics, as it was going the opposite direction, but the imagination works well enough for this one.
Headed home from an errand on the interstate today, when a semi with a crazy long load passed in the other direction. Strapped onto his flatbed trailer -- which was the standard legal limit of 53' or less, maybe, but not TOO much less -- was an upside down 89' flat car, sans trucks and most everything else. The paint was either sandblasted or partically stripped. It was ugly -- and overhanging to the rear by, well, you do the math.
My guess is it was going to be recycled into a light bridge of some sort, because a scrapper wouldn't haul it _away_ in one piece from the RR on a truck, duh-oh
For a little-used siding, you could set up a scene and load like this, either from scrapping operations or from being shipped in on another flatcar from somewhere else to be haauled away.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Mike,I suspect that former flat car will become a county road bridge over a creek or small stream.I understand using old flat cars is cheaper then building a bridge-even a wooden bridge over a creek or small stream.
Of course there will be a weight limit.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Yeah, gotta be cheaper than just about anything except a culvert maybe. Lots of places where a culvert won't work and a salvage flat car will. Our small waterway crossings in Illinois tend to be 40' of mud, 9' of water, then 40' more of mud. This should be just about right.
I wonder how much one might cost? I'd imagine that's the least of it, after you get done paying the trucker and then -- probably -- for a crane to set it. Setting one in place might work better in winter, if your abutments are already in, if everything is frozen. Then you could just chain it and pull the trailer from underneath.
The car was upside down, I suppose so that the flat side allowed it to ride without tipping on the bolsters and centerbeam. You kinda have to turn it over to use it for a bridge, though. Ouch, my back!
Just HAD to do a search. See if this works:
http://rfc-nw.com/bridges/
Mike
My You Tube
Not an 89-footer, but the approach from the nearest rail siding was laid out by dropping a wet spaghetti strand on a crumpled napkin:
Central Tennessee, Pond Creek is between the road of the same name and a house that's well into its second (r maybe third) century. The homeowner bridged the creek with a NC&SL flat, recently painted with the reporting marks and load limit (110,000 lb, IIRC) clearly re-stenciled.
Judging by Mike's link, this could become a lot more common in the future.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with flats too short for bridges)
Flatcars have been used as bridges on low volumn roads since the 1930's. In 1995 the Caslifornia Depsrtment of Transportation (CALTRANS) used flatcars to construct a temporary bridge on Interstate Highway 5.
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/publicroads/95fall/p95au2.cfm
W. H. Wattenburg credited with the concept of reuseable modular temporary bridges using flatcars is a man of many diverse accomplishments.
http://wattenburg.us/
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
Mike,
Thanks for the link. I'm sure they make good use of these out West.
D,
Dr. Wattenberg seems like a Rennaisance man full of great ideas. The fact that he also worked on nuclear detection is right up my alley. I'm going to file that fact away for future use. I'm finishing my dissertation on the US nuclear intelligence program and its effects on national defense strategy right now. His work is right at the edge of where I end up in my dissertation, which is already far too long, but that's good info to know.
Out here in Lake County, they have been replacing quite a few old, need to be replaced bridges with flat cars.
When the cost of building new bridges came up, some one reading about it contacted the county, and as they say, the rest is history.
Ken G Price My N-Scale Layout
Digitrax Super Empire Builder Radio System. South Valley Texas Railroad. SVTRR
N-Scale out west. 1996-1998 or so! UP, SP, Missouri Pacific, C&NW.
I suspect it's not only a cheaper bridge, but probably stouter than they could otherwise affored in most cases. Makes me wonder if a flatcar that could handle a 50 ton load would be a 50 ton brigde. I'm sure there'll be minir differences, but wondering if that'ds c;ose enough for model RR engineering purposes
mlehman I suspect it's not only a cheaper bridge, but probably stouter than they could otherwise affored in most cases. Makes me wonder if a flatcar that could handle a 50 ton load would be a 50 ton brigde. I'm sure there'll be minir differences, but wondering if that'ds c;ose enough for model RR engineering purposes
A flat car is basically already a bridge. It supports loads between the two trucks. So, if you support the flat car by the bolsters, it will hold the same amount of weight.
Yeah, that's one of the things where there will be some minor differences. Most bridges aren't supported by a bolster, but I assume thay would be close to the same strength if an abutment that supported the end beam, But I could be wrong about that, just wanted to get an idea if our assumptions are OK here or not.
One's I was thinking of in particular where that could be different are those long 89' cars. Part of the reason is because bridges are also rated in terms of the load moving and in terms of how concentrated it is. A loaded freight cars is pretty even loaded in most cases. But with a bridge, you could not be over the rated capacity but if that entire load was concentrated in 30' that could be an issue with an 89' car, but wouldn't really be with a 50' car
The temporary bridges used on California I5 in 1995 had the piers under the bolsters.