36-Axle O Scale Railcar

Are you sure that’s a Schnabel car?  I thought that the load itself was the only connection between the two ends of a Schnabel car.

 

Bill

Looks like the load has a jig/carrier that connects to the ends of the car. Perfectly legitimate.

 

Pro Hobby:

 

Did you build that from published drawings or blueprints?

What sized curve can it negotiate?

The rails that support the load are considered part of the load.  This is a special case.

 

The manufacturer calls this car a Schnabel.

 

Here is the KRL news release:

  

This is from Wikipedia:

"A Schnabel car is a specialized type of railroad freight car. It is designed to carry heavy and oversized loads in such a way that the load 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 an assembly of pivots and frames that distribute the weight of the load and the lifting arm over a large number of wheels."

I always understood that the car's load handling in train forces was what made a car a Schnabel.  But with cars as specialized as these are, you can call them anything you want.

Note to Matt:

 

The model was scratch built from sketches and drawings I made from the overall dimensions of the car and many, many photographs.

 

The main problem with a Schnabel of this size is that the "load" swings out over the rails when negotiating curves.  The prototype car has hydraulic systems to shift the load left and right as well as raising and lowering the load. The prototype car must be stopped and the load shifted continually to clear trackside structures and overhead bridges etc.

 

I have not tested the model to see what minimum curve it could handle.  With the load attached there is a point at which the car is not stable and would tip over.  Without the load attached it could probably handle O-72 curves.

 

 Note: I have produced a CD which shows how this model was designed and how it was assembled. Search Ebay for the article "How to build a Westinghouse WECX 801 Schnabel Railcar"

The two halves of the WECX 801 can be connected using a special "drawbar" when it is moved without a load attached.  The supporting rails are carried on a separate flatcar when not used.

 

I have made a "drawbar" which is used to connect the two halves of the car when a load is not connected.  I also have made a model of a Greenbrier 89 foot flatcar which I use to carry the rails when not in use.

 

Note: There is an excellent video on Youtube showing both Westinghouse Schnabels being transported. I used this video to examine some of the details of construction.

 

Attached is a photo of my model without a load installed.

 

 

Here is a photo of the proto WECX 801 with the "drawbar" installed in place.

 

More views of the proto WECX 801 showing the drawbar and the location of the "pivot" point.  The pivot is the point where the load is shifted.

 

 

Any way of getting hold of one of these without involving PayPal? Don't have an account with 'em.

 

---PCJ

Note to Railride:  Email me at my Pro Hobby email address listed on the OGR Forum.

 

I have CDs describing all my projects.

 

See the attachments for some other O scale projects I have built.

 

Pro Hobby

 

 

A very nice video is available on Youtube.  Search for "Meet the Schnabels".

 

This video shows both Schnabels that are owned by Westinghouse. These are #800 red (was ABB) and #801 blue (new from KRL).

 

The video shows both cars being transported along with various "rails" (carried on flatcars) used to support the loads.

 

 

Another nice Youtube video shows the WECX #800 (was ABB #800, was CEBX 800) railcar negotiating a curve. The load overhang on the curve appears to be several feet.

 

See "CEBX 800 on the Indiana Harbor Belt roalroad".

Checked your profile, only "Gender, Birthday, Location, State/Province" are displayed. My email is listed--I checked my profile to make sure I was looking in the right place

---PCJ

My email is now displayed under profile