North Americas Largest Railcar.Kasgro rolls out WECX801

[samfp1943]

Who around here could resist looking into an article with that kind of headline? The subject of Schnabel Cars is a fascinating one, and this car being constructed will be a fairly similar mate to the CBEX 800.  The plan is, apparently, this  July this new car will be going to the Port of Charleston, SC. to pick up its first load.

{Note to Modelcar and others: Would this not be something to see this Beastie going  down "The Grade" at Saluda headed down towards Port of Charleston?}  

Article from TRAINS NEWSwire of this date:

North Americas largest railcar under construction in Pennsylvania

Published: May 25, 2012

"...NEW CASTLE, Pa. – Kasgro Rail is nearing completion of the largest railroad car ever built in North America. The 36-axle Schnabel car is 231 feet long and 18 feet high. The company had to add 15 employees to build the car.

A Schnabel car is designed to carry heavy and oversized loads in such a way that the load itself 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 a pivot above an assembly of pivots and frames that carry the weight of the load and the lifting arm..."

FTA:"...The new car is 231 feet long and sits 18 feet off the ground, bigger than a similar car built by Germany’s Krupp in 1982. “So we had to replicate all the drawings,” Kasgro President and CEO Joe Crawford told WKBN News. “Redo all the drawings to U.S. standards. We’ve been building this car for a year.”..."

The following video of the car being constructed in Mew Castle, Pa at Kasgro Rail is at the following link ( sorry for the attendant advertisements).

The video linked site from WYTV Was supplied by  Tom Daspit.

http://www.wytv.com/content/mediacenter/default.aspx

[narig01]

Try this link instead:
http://www.wytv.com/content/news/local/story/Worlds-Largest-Rail-Car-Being-Built-in-New-Castle/1eg9xTgM0UO7C-NeQU5N7g.cspx

Rgds IGN

[grampaw pettibone]

Criminy, that means it will pass within a mile of me coming and going to Charlestown. This I gotta see!

 

[edbenton]

Do not want to be the Dispatcher on the line that is getting that thing.  Sorry it will gum up the Works for a Day just moving it Empty let alone LOADED. 

[BaltACD]

edbenton

Do not want to be the Dispatcher on the line that is getting that thing.  Sorry it will gum up the Works for a Day just moving it Empty let alone LOADED. 

I doubt that there will be any 'real' restrictions on handling the car empty - most likely placement and speed restrictions, I will say it will not get to Charleston from New Castle on CSX by crossing over the Potomac River in DC - at 18 feet high it is too high to pass through the Virginia Ave. tunnel that can only handle things to 17 feet 3 inches high.  However, loaded will be a entirely different story.

[zugmann]

BaltACD

 

 

 

 at 18 feet high it is too high to pass through the Virginia Ave. tunnel that can only handle things to 17 feet 3 inches high.  

 

Just need a good, running start...

[BaltACD]

zugmann

BaltACD:

 

 

 

 at 18 feet high it is too high to pass through the Virginia Ave. tunnel that can only handle things to 17 feet 3 inches high.  

 

 

Just need a good, running start...

The neer'do wells occupying the town homes on Virginia Ave might object to the raising of the tunnel roof in this manner - as a part of CSX's Gateway project plans are underway to double track the tunnel as well as raise the roof to accept 20'2" double stacks.  Don't know if I can mention what a political football the Virginia Ave. tunnel will become.

[samfp1943]

For those that have not witnessed one of these heavy-weight moves. The following linked Thread is from this Forum from November, 2005;   It is picture heavy and shows the sequence of unloading the ships Fairlane and Stellaprima along with reloading to rail of equipment  they delivered in November,2005 at the Port of Duluth destined for a location in Alberta.

http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/p/50397/639091.aspx#639091

 [ The big red Schnabel car is CBEX 800--That is the Krupp-built car that is the model for the new Schnabel car being built at New Castle. Pa @ Kasgro Rail.]

[edblysard]

Depending on the load, they will hi rail ahead of it over a lot of the route, it will travel with a support car/tool car and at least on caboose, full head end crew and several guys in the caboose who adjust/walk the car around obstacles abutments and such, they stay with the car, (live in the cabooses) till delivery....had one of the crews "stranded" in North Yard for several days awaiting ABB to release a transformer to for movement, poor guys went to McDees in shifts, closest place to get eats!

[edblysard]

Few photos of one we had in here, all folded up, ready to deliver to ABB.

[samfp1943]

Thanks Ed! 

For the pictures of CBEX's #800 smaller cousin!

This link will give everybody their Schnabel fix, for sure!

http://southern.railfan.net/schnabel/cars/cebx800/cebx800.html

[AnthonyV]

What does a car like this cost?

What does it cost to ship vessels like the ones shown in the photos?

Thanks

Anthony

[edbenton]

Put it to you this way to move a Windmill tower to the Final spot OTR your in the area of 10-20 bucks a Miles to move them.  I know that a load that the Big Schenabels can carry your in the area of 1,000's per Mile if not MORE. 

[tomd81]

The CEBX 800 carried a shipment from Houston to Denver a couple of years ago, and I read somewhere the cost to rent the car was $1M, this did not include the charges from the railroad.

for more of a schnabel fix you car click on the link that Sam provide above or to the followng

http://www.garlic.com/~tomd/

This is the top of my collection of web pages, there is info on more that 100 schnabel and large flat car, plus alot more.

Tom

[AnthonyV]

I found this brochure regarding Schnabel car rental from ABB at

http://www05.abb.com/global/scot/scot252.nsf/veritydisplay/36bcc4e173d5c1558525760b00711641/$file/1zul004605-300_railcar_r4.pdf

(I'm sorry. I do not know how to activate the link.)

The rental cost for a 1,000,000 lb capacity Schnabel car is $2,500 per day.  It also states that a special train is required which is charged on a per mile basis.  No prices given.

The brochure also states that ABB technical assistance is required on-site during the loading and unloading of Schnabel cars.  No prices are given for this service.

One million dollars to ship from Houston to Denver (about 1,100 miles) seems in line with Ed's comment that shipping costs could be $1,000s per mile.

 

Anthony

[edblysard]

Low sulphur cat cracker for a refinery in Denver.

Had 2 cabooses, both crewed, and a brand new BNSF Dash 9, still had that new locomotive smell!

It was just shy of $250,000.00 for us to position the car, then move it from the docks to Basin yard, where we handed it off to a BNSF crew...all switches on the route from the docks to Basin were lined, locked and spiked, and a hi rail proceeded the movement.

All movement in PTRA North Yard, city docks and Storage Yard were halted.

After it left basin, it was BNSF's problem.

tomd81

The CEBX 800 carried a shipment from Houston to Denver a couple of years ago, and I read somewhere the cost to rent the car was $1M, this did not include the charges from the railroad.

for more of a schnabel fix you car click on the link that Sam provide above or to the followng

http://www.garlic.com/~tomd/

This is the top of my collection of web pages, there is info on more that 100 schnabel and large flat car, plus alot more.

Tom

[edblysard]

Same car a few days earlier, parked in our rip track, for servicing before the placement.

This thing has a support car that tags along, the Jeep Liberity in the foreground is part of the train, it goes in the support car as transport for the caboose crews and car crew.

[blownout cylinder]

Great photos of the schnabel car...Ed. 

 

[samfp1943]

Today's TRAINSNewswire carries the story that Kasgro in Newcastle,Pa has completed and rolled out WECX801. 

This You tube video shows the car and also a NEW CSX Engine Paint job on #3029(see note below)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okRt7QH8fWQ

And this Railway Age article( with picures) of the newly built WECX801.

http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/mechanical/freight-cars/kasgro-builds-worlds-largest-railroad-car%E2%80%9D.html?channel=59#.T9qJQVLfLoE

FTA:"...WECX 801, built by Kasgro Railcar, Newcastle, Pa., is being called the “World’s Largest Railroad Car.” The 231-foot, 400-ton, 36-axle behemoth rises 18 feet above top-of-rail and has a load limit of more than 1,000 tons. It’s larger than its sister car, CEBX 800, which was built by Krupp of Germany in 1980 for ABB for U.S. service..."

Note from the RailwayAge article:

"...The locomotive in the photo, CSX 3029, is a new GE ES44AH that CSX brought from GE’s assembly plant at Erie, Pa., especially to be displayed with WECX 801..."

Here is a link to additional information, and more pictures on the WECX 801- If you are interested in these Schnabel cars; It is an excellent resource:

http://southern.railfan.net/schnabel/cars/wecx801/wecx801.html

Thanks, Tom!

[Electroliner 1935]

The companies really have no alternative. Some of these vessels can't be fabicated on site. They have to be fabricated and certified, then shipped to the customer. They can in some cases ship by river or ocean as a couple of reactors have arrived at TVA and other utilities by water. The effort to determine a route for moving these oversize loads is a real specialty and requires much work so refineries, utilities, and others need these options. I would not want to meet one on an Interstate Highway. Sometimes, when the load has to be moved from a river or a railroad, the movers have to move the load on back roads that have to be protected with wood mats. At one time, the Erie RR was a preferred route for oversize loads having been built as a broad gage railroad.