Wow, that is an impressive car! I have never seen that specific car, but have seen some similar cars with GE reporting marks , GEGX if I remember correctly. Harold
Harold, For more info, check Toms website on the Schnabel cars, listed above! Too much information, too little time to read it before bed. As for my car, a couple of specs: Over the couplers, it's about 11 1/2 inches long. Weighs in at a rather hefty 7 oz. Has low profile metal wheels, that DON'T roll very well! Multiple swivel points. Nicely done paint job. No major flaws noticed. Printing is sharp, clear AND readable!!! As proven by the Do Not Hump stencil. Overall, I'm quite pleased with my car. Impressed as well!! Worth the $420, discounted price paid.........Maybe. Only if you really wanted to have one of these unusual cars for your collection. My opinion only.
Keith, I am almost sorry for posting here. Now I will have to look through my fille cabinets and find one of them. I will try.
Easy there, John! Otherwise, if you missed it the first time (like I did), go back and check out the load limits and weight displayed on the Schnabel. That power plant must have one well-maintained siding.
Yes, the siding has to be well maintained, but the rail does not necessarily need to be heavy. There is a great article in Trains (July 1973) titled "How to Tote 600 Tons" Here is one of the paragraphs that shows what these fascinating cars can do. "Lightweight rail does not necessarily spell peril to the cars. One generator delivery required use of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy's branch between Nebraska City and Brownville, Nebr. In the 25 miles traversed, no rail was heavier than 80 pounds per yard, and the prize was 14 miles of spindly 56-pound iron laid in the 1880's. After investigating all other possible ways to get the generator to the plant site, the decision was made: it had to go over the branch. Car 102 was used to spread the gross weight of 1,376,000 pounds over the maximum number of axles, and every foot of the branch was inspected for bad spots. Good spots were hard to find, for the branch had little traffic, was up for abandonment, and hadn't seen regular heavy maintenance for years. Several months of work was required before the move could be made, and many new ties went under rail joints and in places where the existing ties had returned to the soil from which they had grown. When work was completed, two jumbo tank cars filled with water (to give axle loads even higher than a Schnabel's) were run over the line to find any soft spots. Finally 102 and its load were inched down the line at a snail's pace." This article covers the Westinghouse cars, but does not cover the largest one of them all CEBX 800. It can carry almost 900 tons on its 36 axles. Each half of the CEBX 800 is the same length as an entire unloaded WECX 202. The CEBX 800 is 231’ long unloaded vs 115’ long for the WECX 202 car.
The rail siding at the power plant I observed the delievery of the transformer is maintained when it needs to be, otherwise it is rarely used (the siding right in front of transformer row). We sub-contract rail maintenance and inspection to a third party on plant property, but it is inspected, especially when a heavy load comes in (such as a transformer or large steam turbine module). I have heard stories of track maintenance headaches on the main unloading loop, especially in the summer when the rail gets hot and wants to buckle.
Keith, my limited experience with brass rolling stock is the same as yours concerning trucks and wheels.... they don't roll well at all. If you want to operate your Schnabel, you might consider temporarily installing MT 1173 "buckeye" trucks (with coupler extension removed) and MT 1031 "roller bearing" trucks with lo profile wheels sets installed. Have you determined minimum radius yet? And, can you operate the car shortened without the load?
For running, I'll probably add a couple of MT, or equivalent, 50 foot flat cars as idlers. Maybe a railroad owned caboose, and/or business car for railroad, shipper and maybe reciever personel. And as long as it doesn't have to hit any sort of grade change(s), I should be OK with the above consist. Have not gotten chance yet, to determine a minimum radius. Might look into it this wekend. If I get to it, I'll report back! And no, I have NOT run a shortened car. I was able to get 1 end to swing down, but nit sure how to get joint apart, without the possibility of destroying something!!
