john Baker has pipped me at the post!
yes, in the UK, a lot of movement of rail vehicles is done by lorry (truck), allegedly as its cheaper. also, the fragmaentsation of the UK rail system has made it difficult to arrange movements that are out of the ordinary. Scap vehicles, repairs and so on go by road.
We have just had a rail crash in the north of England. Much of the clear-up is being done by road vehicles. A temporary road has been buit to the site. It used to be done much quicker with rail-mounted cranes.
The British rail situation is not a happy one.
Mind you, in France, a preservation society wanted to move a steam loco on a line with very few trains. The company owning the track said no, the gradient was too steep for it; problems could be caused, etc! So the society asked if a diesel could follow, "just in case". No, that was not acceptable, either. So it's travelling by road.
Madness! Don't let a different company take over your tracks or you'll have the same problems!
Eric Stuart
in Australia the welding firms often use trucks to move new rollingstock to the railhead receiving area or the docks to ship by sea to the mining areas on the west coast. Quite often the port loading yard has 50-60 hopper waggons bound for hammesly iron.
Also the centenial and big boy are placed as a memorial on a hill in omaha to thank the early railroad pioneers. This has been a full 1hour episode on pay tv (foxtel) of the moving of the two locos and also a depot from another location. Ron James.
Bridge clearances may not be the only reason a boxcar would be on its side. Many years ago someone bought an old caboose and was having it trucked up route 495 in Ma. It was able to fit under the bridges (or at least the ones it had come to when I saw it) but the cupola hit several of the highway signs it was going under. The story I heard was that they took a chain saw to the cupola so it would stop hitting the signs. For years after you could still see the damage it did to the bottom of the signs. I do not remember if it had its trucks still on.
Jaime
Yes, car-repair usually is done off line, and as any model rail can tell you, RIP tracks and car sheds make excellent lineside industries because almost any kind of car can go there (they all break down sooner or later).
However, at least in the case of the locomotives discussed here, what happens is that, because the units sit for so long without being rolled around, the bearings freeze up, and then there is little choice but to move the car or engine by some other means.
Since both of the observed incidents here spoke of the cars being moved sans trucks, I would suspect such explains why the truck haul. Simply stated: It was the wheels that broke!
John Baker
A few weeks ago I saw a flatbed trailer in Columbia, SC on I-26 W (heading towards Greenville/Spartanburg). I was headed in the opposite direction & only caught a quick glimpse. It was carrying what looked like a container car. It didn't have the trucks on it (but there was one pulling the trailer!!!). If I had to guess, I would say that it looked like a Maxi-stack. I only saw one truck (I've never seen anything like this before, either), so I'm guessing that it was a stand-alone car vs. an articulated car.
Has anyone else ever seen anything like this (and in this area) or was my "train crazy" mind playing tricks on me? The only other thing that I could think of that it could have been is an overhead crane (like inside a factory). Not sure why a brand new railcar would be carried on a truck IF that's what it was. Wouldn't a railcar factory be located next to tracks?
nobullchitbids wrote:P.S. My mother and grandparents lived in Marion. Is Quaker Oats still going strong? I heard U.P. tore up all the track through Marion.
P.S. My mother and grandparents lived in Marion. Is Quaker Oats still going strong? I heard U.P. tore up all the track through Marion.
Yep, Quaker still has the world's largest cereal factory in downtown CR. UP, however, did not tear up the track in Marion- the new owner, CNIC, did, just last year.
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
Too much clutter to find the Omaha material easily; however, I did find the photo of the 814.
This engine is a "little" northern, originally had one of the smaller tenders on 6-wheel Commonwealth trucks. Do you know when it was assigned a centipede?
The UP 833 move was from a park in Salt Lake City to Union Station in Ogden. Both locations are near rails, but the cost and problems to make UP833 roll on its own wheels for 25 miles were significant - thus it was trucked using a special external carrying frame.
dd
nobullchitbids wrote:The City of Omaha recently moved a Big Boy and a Centenniel to a new location in one of the city's parks. How they did that, I don't know, but I doubt it was by rail, and without doubt no one picked either of them up and carried them there in their pocket!
The City of Omaha recently moved a Big Boy and a Centenniel to a new location in one of the city's parks. How they did that, I don't know, but I doubt it was by rail, and without doubt no one picked either of them up and carried them there in their pocket!
You'll find quite a bit of info on that move right here.
No, but I may have seen something similar once, at least reported in pictures. A Union Pacific FEF Northern (former # 833) was moved from a location in Ogden to another location nearby, and since (a) the engine is stuffed and no longer operable, and (b) there were no rails laid to the new home, moving it by truck was the only option.
Needless to say, it was some truck!
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
mbkcs wrote:Never fear, curiosity and an inner quest for knowledge will always force me to search for an answer. At least a little explanation. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal FRAC SAND- http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=540473 This next link is from an article written by Eric Hubler. It gives a good description of Frac Sand and its use in gas exploration. http://www.energybulletin.net/276.html So, this sighting of the train car has helped me learn something new. Thanks for the info everyone. P.S. Mookie, we are of like minds.
Never fear, curiosity and an inner quest for knowledge will always force me to search for an answer. At least a little explanation.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal
FRAC SAND- http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=540473
This next link is from an article written by Eric Hubler. It gives a good description of Frac Sand and its use in gas exploration.
http://www.energybulletin.net/276.html
So, this sighting of the train car has helped me learn something new. Thanks for the info everyone. P.S. Mookie, we are of like minds.
That is a really good site explaining frac sand! They did miss the little fact that is does not absorb water either. If you are ever here in Rock Springs, you will see Cement hoppers everywhere, 90% or so are carrying Frac Sand. and Like your second link states, they just pull up, mix the sand in with the drilling fluids and inject it, cracking the rock, making it easier for the gas to be pumped out. And up in the Jonah Field the wells are placed so close together, and the rock structure is the same for all of them, that they even pump it from a centralized location through above ground pipes to the well.
I have to head up there monday, I will post some photos if I get some.....
This is just the Jonah, if you scroll north, you will see the Pinedale Anticline.
Jonah Field
RJ
"Something hidden, Go and find it. Go and look behind the ranges, Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go." The Explorers - Rudyard Kipling
http://sweetwater-photography.com/
That would depend on the box car, Brian. Box cars on the road today (oops--on the rails) usually no longer fit within Plate B, which allows a maximum height above the rail of 15'1". Plate C adds another three inches to that, I believe.
Taking the wheels off but leaving the truck frames on is only going to reduce the height by a matter of inches--no more than a foot. Probably less of a height difference than would compensate for the height above the ground that transporting it on a trailer would take.
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
CShaveRR wrote:Tina, I had no doubt that you'd know the difference between a box car and a container--I just wondered if you had the right freight car type. But a lane and a half wide--sounds like the genuine article!That Frac Sand transport sounds like a good operation for a new breed of Roadrailers!
Tina, I had no doubt that you'd know the difference between a box car and a container--I just wondered if you had the right freight car type. But a lane and a half wide--sounds like the genuine article!
That Frac Sand transport sounds like a good operation for a new breed of Roadrailers!
Carl, not a problem and to make certain it was a box car and not a container car, would be pertinent info in order to hazard a guess as to why it was on its side. Any chance it had been derailed and picked up on its side?
I just like the sound of "Frac Sand." One of the articles talks about "Fracing." I don't know however if that is pronounced "Fracing" as in "racing," or "Fracing" as in "Tracking."
So, if someone chases a frac sand train/trucks, does that make them frackers instead of foamers?
Mookie wrote: Tina! I was just thinking the same thing! Great minds.....Mook
Tina! I was just thinking the same thing! Great minds.....
Mook
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
She who has no signature! cinscocom-tmw
miniwyo wrote:If you think that one is weird, this summer, I saw 10 covered hoppers headed north on US 191. (The main route to Yellowstone) It is part of the Jonah Oil and Gas field expansion. They took them off the rails and trucked them 80 miles north to a place called Sand Draw. Where they were placed on timbers and filled with Frac Sand. It makes it much more convienent for them to get to and store their much needed Frac Sand rather than taking it straight off the car on the rails down here in Rock Springs. Next time I can, I will swing up to Sand Draw and see if I can't get a photo.
If you think that one is weird, this summer, I saw 10 covered hoppers headed north on US 191. (The main route to Yellowstone) It is part of the Jonah Oil and Gas field expansion. They took them off the rails and trucked them 80 miles north to a place called Sand Draw. Where they were placed on timbers and filled with Frac Sand. It makes it much more convienent for them to get to and store their much needed Frac Sand rather than taking it straight off the car on the rails down here in Rock Springs. Next time I can, I will swing up to Sand Draw and see if I can't get a photo.
Okay, I am too lazy too look it up. I admit as much. What is frac sand? Do they still do this transference of cars by highway?
Tina
CShaveRR wrote:Are you sure it was a box car, Tina? If it were on its side, the load would be wider than it was tall--and an upright box car would be a "wide load" already. Also, that part about the truck frames attached is interesting, since they'd be so easy to remove (see Mookie's latest thread).
Oh, it most definitely was a box car as it didn't have the those square openings that intermodal containers require. It was definitely on its side. It took up a lane and a half. I could have gotten by it easier if I hadn't been so curious and try to drive as close to it as possible. I was surprised that bottom parts were attached. It reminded me of when I used to take my brother's trainset pieces and spin the wheels around while I held it in the air. At least I didn't try to fly his trains like I did his model airplanes. I learned very quickly they didn't really fly.
I did read Mookie's question about setting cars onto their trucks and wheels. So, I am a little baffled. Maybe it was a Big Foot moment. That seems to be a popular thing around here.
I wish I had had my camera. Then I could describe it better and be sure of what I really saw. Even though I worked for a railroad, I never really understood much about the mechanics. I do thank you all for your answers.
Datafever wrote:If the transport needed to go under a low bridge or overpass, wouldn't it be necessary to place the boxcar on its side? I've seen wide loads that took up a full two lanes - on a two lane highway, no less. Highway patrol and sherrif's deputies had their work cut out for them on that one.
Overwidth is general easier to route than overheight. I have friends in the oversize/overweigth transport business and they will pre-evaluate a route for a specific load. One such route involved a detour through a shopping center parking lot (with permission of course) to avoid an overhead restriction. So if the rigger laid the boxcar on its side - there was a hard overheight limitation.
Thanks for the reply. That is truly interesting. Would they still be doing this? And this box car was definitely on its side. It looked like a chicken layed on a table.
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