Building a new freight car

[Anonymous]

What are the necessary steps for a company to begin building freight cars?

Do they need to go to Pueblo, CO to be tested or can you build them and put them in service if you can find a RR willing to run them?

Is any sort of AAR or FRA approval necessary for car design or specs?

LC

[ericsp]

I have been looking about in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' Rail Transportation Division but I have not found anything on car design regulations yet.

[Anonymous]

LC,

I had a neat little demo provided by a customer service rep while I was down in Jacksonville called Railroading 101. Most of the material was rather familiar for myself, but for some of the others who were new to the RR it introduced them to a little bit of everything. My point is.... there is a huge book with mechanical specs for each and every type of car. I think the FRA is also in charge of this book, but don't hold me to that. The customer service rep had an example book in his hand and it was rather large and I believe they are published quarterly. That's about all I know on the subject, and I'm sure somebody like Mudchicken can probably give a much better description of the manual and process.

[ericsp]

LC, you might want to look over the descriptions of the following. Some of them may have some relevant information.
2004 Rail Transportation

2003 Rail Transportation
2002 Rail Transportation
2001 Rail Transportation
2000 Rail Transportation
1998 Rail Transportation
1997 Rail Transportation
1996 Rail Transportation

Here are some other publications of interest.
2005 Proceedings of the ASME/IEEE Joint Rail Conference
2004 Proceedings of the ASME/IEEE Joint Rail Conference
2003 Proceedings of the IEEE/ASME Joint Railroad Conference
2002 Proceedings of the ASME/IEEE Joint Railroad Conference
2001 Proceedings of the IEEE/ASME Joint Railroad Conference

2000 Proceedings of ASME/IEEE Joint Railroad Conference Joint Spring ASME/IEEE Rail Conference-RTD 18
1999 Proceedings of the IEEE/ASME Joint Railroad Conference

2004 Proceedings of the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition Cd-Rom: Volume 3

2003 Proceedings of the Fall Tech Conference ASME Internal Combustion Engine Division: Design/Control of Diesel/Natural Gas Engines Industrial/Rail Transportation
B30.5 - 2004 Mobile and Locomotive Cranes
Y32.7 - 1972 Graphics Symbols for Railroad Maps and Profiles
BPVC-XII - 2004 BPVC Section XII- Rules for Construction and Continued Service of Transport Tanks

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by n_stephenson

LC,

I had a neat little demo provided by a customer service rep while I was down in Jacksonville called Railroading 101. Most of the material was rather familiar for myself, but for some of the others who were new to the RR it introduced them to a little bit of everything. My point is.... there is a huge book with mechanical specs for each and every type of car. I think the FRA is also in charge of this book, but don't hold me to that. The customer service rep had an example book in his hand and it was rather large and I believe they are published quarterly. That's about all I know on the subject, and I'm sure somebody like Mudchicken can probably give a much better description of the manual and process.

I think what you are talking about is the Official Equipment Register and is supported by the AAR, not the FRA. AAR (Association of American Railroads) handles all the interchange agreements and rules between railroads and also governs the rules pertaining to car service. TTCI which provides engineering and technical expertise also operates the fomer FRA test facility at Pueblo, Colorado.

Unfortunately, none of this answers my actual question. I think the answer is that you can build anything so long as the components meet the required specifications. I don't think there is an overall spec book regulating individual car types. There are of course numerous rules governing certain cars such as tank cars and intermodal equipment.

Thanks for the input, I'll be sure and post my final answer when I find it...

LC

[Anonymous]

LC,

LOL, you're right! I was having trouble staying awake through the slide show, so my memory is a little foggy, but what you are talking about is exactly what I was thinking of. Sorry I couldn't help. [:I]

[jeaton]

LC

Going back before the Pueblo facility, my uncle designed hand brakes for one of the vendors of car components. I know he was constantly working with the AAR on design modifications. At that time, the AAR also had a testing facility on the Illinois Institue of Technology campus in Chicago. Of course they had no significant track in place, but I am sure that the testing devices were more sophisticated than a ballpeen hamer.

My guess is that unless the new car design had major components, such as trucks, that had never been tested at speed, the car would probably NOT have to be given a run at Pueblo.

So, assuming the car is not too unconvential... Plastic Wheels?

Jay

[Anonymous]

I have received confirmation from my sources at AAR that I was correct. Certain components must meet AAR specs but beyond that the actual car design is up to the manufacturer.

LC

[Randy Stahl]

LC , are you thinking of a car design that has been done , or an entirely new design?
The AAR test center is for new tech, not old proven tech. For example , if you found a new money saving way to manufacture wheels, you would need to test them before you installed them in a fleet of freight cars, the AAR will do this at your request. as no railroad in the country will buy your product until you do.
Randy

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Randy Stahl

LC , are you thinking of a car design that has been done , or an entirely new design?
The AAR test center is for new tech, not old proven tech. For example , if you found a new money saving way to manufacture wheels, you would need to test them before you installed them in a fleet of freight cars, the AAR will do this at your request. as no railroad in the country will buy your product until you do.
Randy

This would be a new car design, similar to certain existing designs and using "off the shelf" components such as wheels, trucks , airbrakes and safety appliances. Of course, the body of the car would have some new features which will hopefully allow a better cargo capacity. I 'm also interested in the potential of a new manufacturer making an existing car design with "off the shelf" components, to the extent possible. My understanding is that no testing is required of the completed car, but certainly it might be wise to send a prototype to Pueblo.

LC

[Anonymous]

The reason for this thread is the continuing car shortages of particular types of cars that have not been built in adequate numbers in recent years. That coupled with retirements of smaller capacity older cars of the same types and congestion on certain Class 1 RRs, a severe shortage has developed and is continuing. Also contributing is the consolidation of many of the car makers which has made parts harder to acquire, particularly truck castings and lengthening backlogs so that the average order cannot be filled for two years or more. This is driving railroads to seek alternative sources of supply.

LC

[Junctionfan]

Which type of car in particular are the railroads having difficulty getting?

[Anonymous]

All cars are short at this time.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bigedd

All cars are short at this time.

Many car types are very short right now. Among the worst are gons, centerbeam flats, Plate F boxcars, and certain tank and pressure tanks. Covered hoppers, particularly grain cars are also short, particularly in the harvest and post harvest season.

LC

[ericsp]

It looks like the AAR is the place to look. This is the reply from an e-mail I sent to ASME's RTD.

QUOTE:
Thank you for contacting ASME. Have you inquired with the Association of American Railroads (AAR) about such standards? I believe they publish standards and recommended practices for freight car construction. You'll find a catalog on their website (www.aar.org).

Also, information about AAR publications distributed by TTCI (Transportation Technology Center, Inc.) covering technical standards, mechanical inspection, AAR Interchange Rules, and the results of TTCI research, is available in the publications catalog. Call 877-999-8824 for TTCI/AAR Publications.

[Junctionfan]

Why has Procor stopped making the power flow hoppers? Why aren't they used more instead of cars that could be used for other things?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Junctionfan

Why has Procor stopped making the power flow hoppers? Why aren't they used more instead of cars that could be used for other things?

Good question. Perhaps you should ask them and let us know.

http://www.procor.com/

LC

[dldance]

Don't your first have to get a license from UP for the logo - sorry that was model rr cars I was thinking about[:D]

dd