Improved overhead clearances to allow double stack cars have pushed the clearance diagram five or six feet above where it was traditionally (except in the eastern electrified zones) and that's enough to place a standard size steamer on a standard height flatcar deck, provided no one is worried about center of gravity issues.

I like that idea you did there! For light equipment and having the ability to get the trailer close to a section of track it looks like the easiest way of doing it without actually lifting the item.

This is an idea I had a while back. What if the lowboy trailer is the ramp? Build risers on the deck of the trailer topped with rail, and a "ramped" riser you could back the trailer onto to get the trailer and flatcar to the same height With car/trailer/roadbed rails all aligned, disconnect the gooseneck and pull the tractor out of the way and voila'...roll on/roll off. A Specialized Service for Hire...

Cheers, Dave

This doesn't address the ramp idea but thought I would post anyway. You can certainly ship more than an 80-tonner. Yeah, it's a high capacity 4-truck flat but nothing really especially fancy.

Steve

The AT&SF 543 was loaded at CSRM using a ramp made out of track panels and tie cribs about 4 rail lenghts total with the section going onto the flat car a 10 foot lenght of rails bolted together with 1 1/4 " rods and loosely connected to the assending ramp rails with just flat bars stock "anglew bars "so that section sits level with flat car deck.
Using a 8 axle car whichares now the only standard heavy pool flat cars [no six ones left] present problemsfor ramp loading that the end platforms have to be "bridged" using tie cribs along the car side and we used rails sections crosswise to the car deck to support the ramp rail. More work but works OK we did two locomotives this way at CSRM.
If the picture is studyed you can see the tieing down method used ,chocks welded to 1 1/4 steel bar which works for the running rails this is the for and aft restrant 3 times weight of load, then crosswised steel bar welded to the deck against the wheel tread this is 2 times the crosswise load. the cables tie down is for the vertical load which is 2 times the weight of car or load which ever is less.

I have used this tie down method for 3 QJs steam locomotives and 2 diesels and UPRR, BNRR, NSRR have all approved I also furnish a set of calculations and working drawings for each load.

Not a cheap metnod but gets RR approval and the loads have move thousands of miles and are still tight.

Dennis Daugherty

A couple of years ago Lauren Williams of Petaluma Trolley built a set of ramp panels to load the restored GE 25 ton diesel onto a drop-center trailer. The loco was hauled in our Butter & Eggs Day Parade, whistle blowing and bell ringing. Later that day it was backed off onto its siding, and the ramps stacked using the excavator in the background. They're ready for the next parade.


Mike Manson

Petaluma, CA

Tie downs were going to be my next question. When we moved US Army Alco S1 7371 from Aberdeen Proving Grounds to New Castle, PA a dozen years ago the railroad required us to use 3/4" steel rods to secure the load, and would not approve the use of cables or chains. Yet in just about all other loco on flatcar photos that I have seen, wire rope is used for the tie downs. Does the AAR Open Top car loading rules cover the approved tie downs for rail equipment on fat cars? I don't have a copy to check.

Dennis, I have sent you a PM.

So that's where that sucker went. We've been wondering where it disappeared to.

Actually right now the 7371 is alive and well taken care of at the Ashtabula, Carson & Jefferson Railroad in Carson, OH.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdk5wcl7 ... re=related

When we moved the ten wheeler, CN 1112, CP sent a carman to go over our tiedown plans once we had rolled the engine and tender onto their flatcars.

We had bolted rails to the decks of the two cars to carry the equipment, and steel plate (scrap tie plate) wheelstops were cut and welded to both rails at both ends, snugly fitting to the wheels. Wire rope was used as the tiedown from that point.

Everything worked, as she stayed put during a fast run on a CP freight from Montreal to Smiths Falls. I had concerns due to possible spring action, but we followed CP's instructions and everything stayed snug.

Our passenger cars were sitting on blocking and were tied down with wire rope but no problems were expected (without trucks, rocking, rolling, and spring action were not big concerns).

Steve Hunter
RMEO

Anything loaded on a flat car must comply with the AAR open top loading rules. If not secured in accordance with a standard plan, any alternative must be approved by the railroad in advance. The AAR rules generally provide that rolling stock shipped on flat cars must be removed from trucks and placed on blocking, to reduce center of gravity and provide solid contact between the load and the flat car. As Dennis Daugherty has indicated earlier in this thread, alternatives are possible but must demonstrate that the required factors of safety have been calculated and accommodated.

I have moved several coaches on flat cars and to date have followed the practice of removing the carbodies from their trucks and employing cranes and blocking in accordance with the loading rules. We have had no major problems and gained efficiency with experience.

Alan Maples

Jimmy McHugh, now of McHugh Railroad maintenance Equipment in the Strick Trailer Plant, Lincoln Hwy, Fairless Hills, Pa. should be able to tell about what McHugh Bros. used to move and unload Philadelphia and Baltimore subway and trolley cars from the factory. They used a 2 part heavy duty steel ramp, partly made from crane boom parts.

I LOVE your idea. I have been suggesting for many year that either TRAIN or ARM or both sponsor the construction of a ramp with end users paying a fee per use. Also, Dennis and I moved a loco from Sacramento to Campo - and that worked so well we should write a manual on "how to". It didn't move 1/10th of an inch - no cables were loose and it was relatively easy to do ONCE you know how to.

(Thank Dennis - for your help).

I've been gathering materials and this weekend plan to begin construction of a portable flatcar loading ramp that will be capable of handling up to an 80 ton locomotive. If everything goes as planned it will be transportable on a trailer behind a 3/4 ton pickup (or will serve as its own trailer, another option) and could be deployed without the use of any heavy equipment.

I'll post pics as I go.

Construction of the ramp has commenced. When completed, the ramp will be 40 long and will have a 45" rise. It will be capable of being transported behind a pickup truck and can be deployed without use of equipment.

There will be five sections. The largest section is the one that goes from 45" to 23" and is 20' long. This will be built as a rigid one piece fabrication. The next two pieces are the individual ramps which go from 23" to 7" and are 15' long each. These will be tied together with four chair gauge rods when deployed. The last two pieces are 5' long, 3" thick steel plate wedges which will go from 7" to a point.

Here are a few photos of the first of the 15' long sections being fabricated today. The rail is 115RE and is being held to the ramp by crane rail clips since welding directly to the rail would be unwise.