Abrams Tank Train video and questions

hokie71 posted:

I ran across this you tube video of a BNSF freight hauling 90+ Abrams tanks.  Neat video but it raised a few questions for someone like me who is not deep into "real train" operations:

1) those tanks weigh 63 tons each and most of the flat cars carried two.  I had no idea flat cars had that capacity, are they regular flat cars or is this a special category being used in this situation?

Yes, special DOD flatcars. If you look closely at the video, I'll bet the flatcars have 3 axle (6 wheel) Buckeye high capacity trucks.

2) there were two  helpers and they  were in the middle of the freight cars  with none on the tail.  Is there a reason why they were placed there for this load and what factors influence the middle versus the end for helpers?

With such a heavy train, the forces are better distributed with the Distributed Power Units (helpers) place in the middle part of the train. Those DPUs are controlled by the Engineer in the lead unit.

As additional information, many folks might ask, "With such heavy trains like unit coal trains, why aren't the DPUs placed near the middle?". The answer is, neither the coal mines, nor the receiving power plants, want the DPUs placed in the middle of the train.

Thanks in advance to the experts.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJot_pOMeLE

An M1A1 Abrams weighs 62 METRIC Tons, or 136,687 lbs. unloaded each.

My guess is that a specialized 4 channel flat would haul it.

I stopped the video and saw the flats are labeled DODX - looking those up, indeed six wheels and four channels.  Thanks for the clues.

One more question please.  I always thought the heavy cars went to the front and lighter to the back to avoid stringlining (is that the word?  the light cars coming off the rail?) like we do for our simple consists on our home layouts.

the first 13 (yes I counted them ) cars only had one tank.  obviously intentional but is that situation not a big issue with the DPUs in the middle?  Those light cars (comparatively speaking) surprised me.

Hot Water posted:

Yes, special DOD flatcars. If you look closely at the video, I'll bet the flatcars have 3 axle (6 wheel) Buckeye high capacity trucks. 

The DODX flat cars I've seen have all had two axle trucks, two on each end, for a total of four, 4-axle trucks.
There are a lot of these to be been seen in my area, as Lima, Ohio is not far away.
While I refrain from saying they are common sight, that are not uncommon either.
Lima, Ohio and the M1 Abrams have a very close connection...

Also, the M1 Abrams shown in this video are clearly inbound to some type of high level maintenance depot...maybe back to Lima, Ohio?
Note all the parts missing as each tank passes the camera, armored side skits, road wheels, etc...
They are all in different colors, some forest camo, some OD green, some desert camo.
The flat cars with two M1s may have their engine packs removed, thus they are lighter and could be doubled up....just a guess on my part.
Last, there are a chalk drawn ID number on each tank.
If these tanks were in a unit that was just being moved, they would all be complete, be in the same paint scheme, same markings, etc...

Bryan,

I should have posted this web site: apparently there are three versions of the flatcar: https://olive-drab.com/gallery/description_0120.php    

The 150 ton version in the picture has six wheel trucks.

In the 1990's, I was The Santa Fe Assistant Superintendent for territory including the Lampasas Subdivision, which serves Fort Hood, Texas.  We periodically loaded and unloaded military trains there.  Some were for deployment and some were for training missions to and from places like Fort Irwin, California.  When one of those maneuvers was in progress we had a railroad official and one or more crews on base around the clock.

The green six axle DODX flats will carry two Abrams tanks.  Trucks, armored personnel carriers, tank retrievers, and other equipment was normally loaded on yellow or red DODX cars.  The loading and unloading was done by soldiers, and was as much part of their training as was the war game mission at Fort Irwin.   We (SantaFe/BNSF) would spot the ramp tracks for circus loading, and switch the loads into trains at the Fort, condition the distributed power, and depart for the destination.  Our Mechanical Department also inspected the equipment securement before we pulled the loads out.  Inbound trains from deployment or training, we spotted at the ramps.  The Fort's railroad (operated by civilian government employees) did warehouse switching and handled the switching of smaller shipments to and from the ramp tracks.  They also switched the empties into storage tracks on the base, but we also had some stored in Brownwood Yard, because there were too many for the track capacity of the fort.  They had planned to increase the size of their yard, and I am not sure if they can store all the DODX cars on the base nowadays.

There are not many uniformed military railroaders these days.  When there was an especially big maneuver, they would send down a railroad battalion, from Wisconsin to help out the Fort's regular railroad crew.