Title says it all. What would be the right kind of car for hauling brick? I want to add a car hauling brick into my operations as there is a long-term brick manufacturer in the area that my protolanced 70s era layout is set. (The Walthers brick stack kit has given me the inspiration.) I am leaning toward an RBL type boxcar as the load restraints would keep the bricks from getting damaged but if someone has a better suggestion, I'm all ears. As usual, any suggestions anyone can offer would be most welcomed.
I think the RBL is a good choice. You have the cushioned frame, double doors and the load restraints. You have to keep the brick from bouncing around, and corners getting chipped.
Probably easy kits to find. Not sure what road names are out there, you may have to paint and detail what you want, or a "patch-out" of some other road you could live with.
Mike.
My You Tube
I remember box cars of brick from Michigan traveling by car ferry to Wisconsin. The GBW then moved them across Wisconsin. The loads were on banded pallets in standard box cars. The pallets were secured to the floor with lots of dunnage..
RBL's would work, but they were pretty new in 1970. Large doors would make loading/unloading with a forklift possible. Off season when canned goods were not loaded would be be a good use of them...
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
A standard 40' boxcar will work for hauling brick... I have seen brick in 50' double dooor boxcars.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
I do get what Jim is saying. When these cars were introduced, it was to supply a demand for hauling more "fragile" loads, that may not need refrigeration, but needed to be kept at a constant temp., and not so susceptible to temperature extremes.
I can imagine many 40' ers were outfitted to haul brick, and keep the bundles stable.
While looking for info on this topic, I came across an interesting read on how the Southern RR, in the late 60's, spent lots of time, money and effert for brick making industries in their service areas, to keep brick from being damaged.
They came up with a 40' boxcar rebuild, with many of the same features as the later RBLs.
http://southern.railfan.net/ties/1966/66-3/brick.html
No railroad is going to be happy about hauling bricks in a food grade RBL. Why haul bricks for $500 a car when you can haul beer for $1000 a car.
Most likely would be a 70 ton cap 50 ft boxcar. No need for a car with a high cubic capacity, the biggest requirement is floor in good shape that will handle the forklift and a higher weight capacity. While load restraining devices are nice, 2x6's are cheap.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
The Southern Pacific used to serve d'Hanis Brick & Tile, manufacturers of bricks and other clay products such as floor and, roofing tiles, conduits, and pavers. The works was served by a simple spur off of the San Antonio-El Paso main that was trailing point eastbound in d'Hanis, TX. The only cars I ever saw there were 50 foot, exterior post, double sliding door, SP boxcars with cushion underframes and, load restraints. An excellent example would be Intermountain's FMC 5283 cu. ft. double door car in HO.
Because brick and tile products are not weather sensitive, an RBL would not likely be in brick service. As stated, the major concern would be the ability of the car floor to support the combined weight of the lading and the handling equipment. Restraint of the load is important to protect the car and, lading, thus the cushion underframe and load restraints. Besides, RBLs command a higher per diem than a regular boxcar.
Some roads used flat cars with low end bulkheads and side boards resembling rail fencing that mounted in the stake pockets (MoPac) and, just low bulkheads like the New Haven. Due to the weight, banded pallets of clay products were usually shipped one high and, 50 foot cars were preferred.
The brickworks spur was lifted sometime during the mid/late 1980s and the works is barely visible from U.S. Hwy 90, and the former SP main. If your are interested in the brickworks, may I suggest you investigate https://loc.gov/resource/hhh.tx0600.photos/?sp=1 which will give you a look at the industry, which is listed on the Historic American Engineering Record.
dehusmanNo railroad is going to be happy about hauling bricks in a food grade RBL. Why haul bricks for $500 a car when you can haul beer for $1000 a car.
I agree with Dave. RBL refers to the insulation of the car - it can hold a temperature within a range for a surprisingly long time, but has no ice bunkers or mechanical refrigeration. It is cooled, the load is cold or cool, and then it is sealed with plug type doors. Load restraints or cushioned underframes are incidental and not unique to RBLs.
Here in Milwaukee there was a reclaimed brick company that did a brisk business with reclaimed vintage brick for which I gather there is a brisk market for residential uses. They shipped in regular 50' boxcars but I suspect those cars may well have had DF load restraints and perhaps also cushioned underframes which are so common now. They shipped the bricks on pallets and used fork lifts to load
Dave Nelson
Attached is an article from the Southern Railroad on brick cars.
Mask Island Decals makes a kit for the Soputhen and Central of Georgia Cars.
https://www.maskislanddecals.com/product/southern-3/
Rick Jesionowski
Rule 1: This is my railroad.
Rule 2: I make the rules.
Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!
The same link I posted Rick, I thought it was a good read.
Remembering the OP is doing the 70's, I'm rethinking this, and I think Dave makes a great point.
Figured that I would post what I finally decided to get for my brick car: https://www.ebay.com/itm/HO-Athearn-NP-dbl-dr-40-boxcar-NIB-Northern-Pacific/254172836927?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649. The car may not look right but I have seen a picture of the prototype in an NP book I have. Unfortunately, I can't find a picture of it online. To keep with the history of the car series and to work with my era, I will need to renumber the car. Given that I have built and decaled enough of my own cars, that won't be a major problem.
Not every customer has a rail siding to accept a loaded boxcar full of bricks. In that case they used regular 45ft. vans and would ship them by Intermodal Rail. In the 80's I delivered quite a few of those to customers without a rail siding. They were heavy, but legal. Shipped on banded pallets straight down the center of the tralier and blocked from moving. They found it to be easier and cheaper to ship that way,,,,less damage from hump classification yards, which the boxcars usually had to go through for long distance. You don't hump Intermodal equipment and a lot of customers buying the brick along with no rail siding, didn't need a whole boxcar load of the same kind of brick, with limited storage space.
Take Care!
Frank