Meet The Schnabels: The World's Largest Freight Cars
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ต.ค. 2024
- #train #unique #big
August 19, 2012 - After dragging myself out of bed in the wee hours of the morning, I arrived in Pennsylvania around 10:30 for a day of railfanning to precede the event which had drawn me back so quickly - the westbound deadhead run of Nickel Plate 765 and its train over the Pittsburgh Line on its return from running employee excursions in the Harrisburg area. I thought I was off to as good a start as could be expected when the action opened with an eastbound loaded coal train bookended by a thumping trio of GE road power and a roaring pair of SD40E helpers. Unbeknownst to me, I was about see something bigger. Much bigger. Way bigger. Moving the needle on the Big-O-Meter all the way over to its upper limit and then breaking it off, in fact.
It started simply enough with a call from the Pittsburgh East dispatcher to 'NS 098', requesting the train to stop at MO and call when they reached that point. Knowing the 0-series numbers were often used on high-and-wide moves, I expected something unusual - but certainly not what rounded the curve at a jogger's pace shortly after the bell at Carneys Crossing stopped ringing.
I was pleased to see that whatever procession was approaching was being led by 3380, an ex-Conrail SD40-2 that clearly retained its original horn. Following the 3380 was a flatcar topped by a load of bright blue steelwork, a red bay-window caboose, and something that from a distance looked like a trilevel autorack until its many-wheeled body emerged from behind the trees, followed closely by a red twin. I left my jaw where it fell on the ballast while I processed what I was looking at. Passing before me were the two largest freight cars in the world - WECX (Westinghouse Electric) 801 and 800, 36-axle Schnabel cars rated for loads of 2,035,800 lbs. and 1,779,260 lbs. respectively. The two giants clomped across Carney's Crossing to what I'm sure was the perplexed looks of the drivers waiting on either side, and then continued their march into the distance.
Confident I could keep the pace, I threw (okay, gently laid) my tripod and camera in the backseat and spurred my ride ahead to MO Interlocking, where they would stop per the dispatcher's order. The consist had just come into sight on the tangent through Cresson when I jumped out of the car to set up west of the signals. Much to the delight of any onlookers present, the stop and inspection took place right in front of the observation deck. Checks complete, the engineer in the 3380 gingerly notched out the throttle and gently persuaded the 801 and 800 into motion again. As the march continued east, doublestack 20T snuck up behind on track 2. Was I going to stay and catch the doublestacks while the 098 plodded away? How about no...
As if I needed any help in staying ahead, the 098 called Pittsburgh East to announce they had gone into emergency just east of MO while I was still within the Cresson town limits. The problem was resolved quickly, but in the meantime the dispatcher decided to hold the 098 while the 20T and the following 20W got by. The delay turned out to be well-timed, as the clouds' bite began to match their bark while I sheltered under the trees at the old bridge abutment next to the Route 53 overpass. The rain tapered off to drizzle within 15 to 20 minutes, just in time as the 098 came rolling around the curve and under the bridge.
'One more shot,' I decided, and ran ahead once more to Portage Street in Gallitzin, within sight of AR Tower and the 'Slide'. The twin behemoths were in sight just beyond the tower, sitting patiently for yet another inspection and a set of light helpers to pass. The skies weren't done with me yet it turned out, and this time the rain was quite a bit heavier. No worries though, as I had already thrown on my coat while at the previous location and the camera was similarly well-covered.
In a final bit of godly favor the rain tapered off quickly, replaced by blue skies and puffy white clouds. The 3380 notched out again, crept past the tower, and carefully led its train down into the New Portage Tunnel. No angelic chorus was heard, but one certainly wouldn't have been out of place.
"How many 4 wheel axles do you want?"
"Yes."
Blue Foxy perhaps
I would think an axle with an extra 2 wheels would be hell going over a switch or crossing.
Edit: autocorrect made "axle" into "a less"
The best music in the world, the sound of an EMD prime mover revving up towards notch 8. This was captured perfectly, the sweet sound of the blowers spooling up and the very dominant but not overdone thumping of the pistons.
billyboi57 they're not blowers their turbos but I get your point 😀
Thank you - i was wery sure it was an EMD machine, it sounded A LOT like the type 20-645E3 From Scandinavia.
I like how they found a job for the caboose again.
WhiteCamry There are still some cabeese around in places, they're just harder to find, mainly in places that would have long backup moves like coal-mining country where it wouldn't be safe for a brakeman or conductor to be hanging off a car for the length of the move. I believe that in this case, the caboose would house the Schnabels' support crew as well as anyone assigned as a representative from the manufacturer of whatever load they might be carrying.
...
See I look at this title and all I can think is “Parker Schnabel?”
DAMN YOU GOLD RUSH
I feel better... that I'm not the only one that had the same thought...
Lol
Wow it's wonderful how a *SINGLE* Norfolk Southern EMD SD40-2 can haul *2* freakin schnabel cars!!
Railroading gets more interesting all the time. Especially for me as a model railroader! BACHMANN ATHEARN, WALTHERS etc got it right to a T with all the loads in this video I can definitely run equipment like this on a layout no question about it! This video is a winner! 👍✅🎥⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I’m sure the defect detectors sure love counting the axles on this particular train lol
no different than hundreds of axles in any other train
Imagine a 2 mile long train of only these cars..... i think that may break the counter lol
This is, without a doubt, something someone never sees everyday. Great video.
Great video and sound also congratulations on catching both of them at once!!
Fantastic bit of rail photography.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Awesome video. Thanks for posting this. I model N scale, and my only brass piece is a 32 axle Westinghouse Schnable car.
+pumpkinhead625 Wow...that must have taken a fair amount of craftsmanship to model one in N scale. I assume it came with some kind of simulated load?
+FastFlyingVirginian Actually it came assembled and painted with transformer load. I haven't run it yet, but I was considering it.
Man how do you get all those axles properly on N scale track lol
Thank you, I have never saw them empty!
Supervisor: Today we need to change six axles on this big baby.
Me: Sir, what´s the quickest way to get myself fired?
4:34 it was a little hard to tell at first but an intermodal train passed behind the Schnabel train! Was a little confusing at first! Excellent camera angle there! :D
20T. He snuck up on me real good, but in my defense I was pretty well distracted.
Aren't you the lucky one to catch 2 Schnabel cars at once. I like the scenery that was at the locations you did get the videos for. The signal box at one location also a great location.
I don't know which is more impressive , the shear size of those two Schnable cars , or the 16 cylinder ,mechanical symphony of that SD40-2 throttling up.
Trick question. The answer is neither - it's the echo of that sweet Leslie horn at Carneys Crossing. :)
That red schnabbel car reminds me of CTX800 that I encountered one late winter up north of Edmonton. It was transporting a 900 ton manganese pressure vessel to Fort MacMurry Mildred Lake for Syncrude. It would be impossible to move such a load in the summer as the ground would be too soft.
Awesome video! I got an HO scale Schnabel car yesterday
Thanks! How big is the HO Schnabel? That's got to be a pain on curves.
@@FastFlyingVirginian It is about 27 inches long. The worst part about it is when it goes around a curve it hangs way over and it will hit trains on sidings and I had to move some buildings and scenery back.
Beautiful movie. The 801 is a monster, by what I'm reading. At 18 axles per half, it was primarily designed to carry nuclear reactor containment vessels.
Filmado y captado como los dioses de los ferrocarriles. Un extraordinario trabajo este video.
Felicidades y gracias por tan buen video.
Saludos desde Mexico.
Not much room left, under those bridges... Great video!👍👍
Thanks! And the cars were empty here - I can't imagine what the fit would have looked like with a load on them.
Awesome! Lots of axles on both halves of the cars, look like they had a total of 36 which makes it 72 wheels per car. Found your video google searching for schnabel cars after seeing an listing on eBay of one of the versions that MTH electric O gauge trains made, their version of that car only had 14 axles.
If I'm not mistaken the blue one is beefier with a higher load capacity
I swore that SD40-2 was going to stall out any second! Very good video, as always!
Tonnage-wise it wasn't in any danger of stalling, but the move was limited to 15 mph with stops at MO and AR to inspect before descending the grade. The worst problem I think they had was an air hose separation shortly after they departed MO, which was how I had plenty of time to get to the Route 53 bridge.
FastFlyingVirginian I would've put a second locomotive on the back for extra insurance
This begs the question, what on earth takes 2 Schnabels to move!
Get fucked
an NS EMD SD40-2
Probably turbines. It has the Westinghouse logo.
Sd40t-2 would be the great unit for the schnabels
Great video and work. I for sure would drag my butt of out bed to capture something like that!!!
40-2. What a great locomotive.
Your description brought me to tears my good sir..
Amazing! I marvel at the knowledge, skill and motivation to make such equipment. I like the colours as well (my Gump statement) thanks for s wonderful video, it will give me many opportunities to learn more about our world!
Red and blue eh?
Sounds like another tf2 reference INCOMING!
New England Railfan productions 2017 ah yes, this is what the world needs
That is the last thing I thought would be referenced here.
Never expected a comment like this in a train's video, nice!
Pootis Spenser here!
Spai around here
OKTOBERFEEEST
I will be bookmarking this.
I loved the sound - which for me is important. Took 3 views to realize what I was seeing.
Where was it headed?
Thanks! I was graced with minimal ambient noise when it counted everywhere I went that day, especially at the crossing in the first scene when there were no cars waiting on my side.
If I recall correctly, the cars traveled together as far as SC before splitting up; one went to Charleston and the other continued on to Savannah.
Sorry to be so ignorant but what exactly do these things do? Absolutely fascinating.
Brutus L Schnabel cars (two of them pictured in this video, red and blue) are used to carry oversized, heavy, and extra long loads. The load is normally suspended between the two arm-looking things on each car; these cars are empty, so the two arms are just connected together.
Thank you for an excellent video.
Glad you enjoyed it!
4 locations within about 5 miles of railroad...I'd say you fared extremely well. I didn't realize just how huge those things were until I saw this video, wow. Never saw that many wheels in one frame than I did in the last clip of it going down the slide.
Very cool, although not loaded, their scale still beats anything out there, and that array of axles along the Pittsburgh Line must trick the rails into thinking that PRR Centipedes are once again running the rails! The shot of those things going down "the slide" is priceless.
Great video of the schnabel pair!!!! I would love to catch either of them in action especially on the Pittsburg line! Thanks for sharing.
Excellent footage! Love the horn too!
That horn was almost as big a catch as the two Schnabels.
What are they exactly? And can I find a video of those colossal cars in action anywhere?
th-cam.com/video/QzCO3tcStF4/w-d-xo.html
Excellent video - well shot & nicely edited. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
That's a big crane train. Multiple cranes on a train lead by Norfolk Southern SD40-2 #3380. Those are some giant cranes. Wonder where those are going to.
If I recall correctly, one was headed to Savannah, GA and the other to Charleston, SC to pick up different loads. They traveled together like seen here into NC or VA where they split up.
Thank you. Excellent photography. What are they used for? Thanks.
Schnabels are used to carry large loads that wouldn't fit on a normal freight car. The two halves of the car are split apart, and the load is carried between them cantilever style. The more wheels a Schnabel has, the better the weight can be spread out. These particular cars also have an operator cab on each half; when the car is loaded the operators can shift the load up and down or side to side to guide it past trackside objects like telephone poles, bridge abutments, etc. There are several good videos here on TH-cam (none of them my own, unfortunately) that show the cars loaded.
What a catch, nice to see NS 3380 (nee-CR 6446) hard at work with a very heavy load which requires delicate movement and careful running along the ROW.
Beautiful video!
Love that RS3L horn!
One like for the description 👍
Beautiful sound ! And the Schnabels aren't bad either,great catch.
Great catch! Thanks!!!!
You're welcome! I'm glad I made this one count, because I will probably never see such a thing again. If I do, I am playing the Powerball the same day because the odds would surely be in my favor. 😁
Both of them were Westinghouse owned Schnables. Basically will be used to haul two components Westinghouse makes. Power Transformers, Nuclear Reactor parts, etc
Good video. Some time it would be nice to have a guest speaker tell us all about this special heavy load configuration.
I tried to get a guest speaker, but Michael Palin, Anthony Bourdain, and Jeremy Clarkson were either unavailable or way too expensive.
Great video and photography!
Both cars are now sitting in Charleston along with the caboose. They are slated to come through Columbia on the same train. At this time everyone is the area is keeping a very close watch and is ready for them to come this way. We don't think they'll go to VC Summers, but they may.
back I the early '90s I cut up a giant water-tube boiler in the plant that Finkl Steel moved into north of 95th Street in Chicago. All in, it weighed more than 300,000 pounds. You could tell it had been moved into the plant with a Schnabel. It had 2 giant pin-holes through the bottom frame, and 2 more at the top. It was a shame to destroy it. It was there for years and never installed., We sold the 2 steam header drums back to the company that built it, but that was all they were interested in.
Actually it was in the early 2000s.
The Schnabel car definitely is one of the most unique Rail cars ever made. They do serve a purpose. Whoever designed them sure was a very brainy person. Just imagine what the Schnabel company passenger cars would look like with all those axles?
Mighty funny-looking, I'd imagine. There'd really be no need for all the axles with a passenger car though, since the whole point of the wheels is to spread the weight of the cargo, which wouldn't be necessary with a passenger load. Note that 'Schnabel' isn't a company, the manufacturer of the cars would be Kasgro Rail Services in this case. The original design was German-built, and 'Schnabel' is short for 'Tragschnabelwagen', translated as 'carrying-beak wagon', which is a reference to the shape of the supporting arms that hold the cargo in place.
FastFlyingVirginian. It is true that all those axles would not be necessary on a passenger car, but visualization of said car in my mind would be something to behold in real life. Wouldn't have been surprised if during the time of WW2, Adolf Hitler would've had such a car for his own use on his planned Breightspurbahn super broad gauge European railroad.
Great catch! Very nice transit and video! Great camera work! Greetings from Italy. Ciao, Stefano
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
Ouh the red one was built by Krupp. I wonder how they transported it through germany? Probably in small parts bc our railways are smaller.
Knalltüte duh I sure thought they standardized rail cars. I thought they as in the whole world were like 4 ft 8 1/2 for freight trains.
@@mphill1491 the tracks have the same with but the carts themselves are not as high as the American ones.
The video is fantastic, but that description is golden, why don't you become a poet or something, since I didn't know what those cars were, I decided to read the description first, I'm so happy I made that decision, I can't wait to see what you put so beautifully into words
I just came across this.... for those of you who might be interested. Look further on TH-cam for "The world's largest rail car, the Schnabel Car: 2,090,000 lbs.". Now that's interesting and somewhat frightening at the same time considering what's being hauled.....
whats being hauled?
nuclear reactor containment vessels
@@KennethKinoshita those and transformers
I've seen them or something similar loaded a couple of times on the tracks next to Terminal Blvd. just outside of Norfolk International Terminals here in Norfolk. I believe the were humungous transformers.
Absolutely awesome. We were at cresson and horseshoe curve over the weekend. Where is carneys crossing compared to there?
I may be an old man, but I sure learned a lot from this recording. Thanks!
Nothing that I know of - these two were actually headed in two different directions. If I recall correctly, they stayed together until at least Roanoke, then one split off to head down to Savannah to pick up a nuclear reactor part, and the other may have gone over to Charleston. I believe the blue car had just been completed a couple of months prior, and this was its maiden voyage.
Transformer or other large-item carrying units. The transformers or whatever else needs carrying, is suspended between those 'arms'. There is nothing between those 'arms' right now, they are simply joined together with a joining bar.
Were these things based off the gustav railway cannon's boogies?
Yes very nice indeed. And forgive me for asking but what is a train like this used for?
It carries very strange and heavy loads.
It is empty now, but it is used to carry extremely large and heavy electrical power transformers.
The Chungus Twins of The Railroad Car World!
Great train video,i really enjoyed it.
interest heavy-duty Genset hauliers, something you don't see every day, the extra steel girders make up the Genset cradles etc! Heavy equipment transport at is best!
Talk about a once and a lifetime catch.
Indeed, and even more special considering I had no prior knowledge of it coming. It truly was a case of being in the right place at the right time.
The rigging on the flat cars would be for large pipe or tank sections. Really large.
Ya know how train wheels clattering over rail joints or switch points make that clickety-clack sound? Well, by the time this thing got through the switch you would have been driven insane by the noise of EVERY SINGLE WHEEL clattering over the switch.
Both of them are still in Charleston Sc. as soon as the blue arrived it was finished and a few modifications done in the port
those Schnabel cars are huge
Great video, and Nice sound. Just like the old danish MZ locomotives :-)
Thanks! The resemblance is no coincidence - the MZ class used the same prime mover, EMD 645-E3.
Did you know that 16 MZ's were sold, and went to work in New South Wales, Australia? They were nicknamed "Helgas" for their European origins.
A Single SD40-2 Is Pulling All Of That.......... WOW!!!!!!!!!
Yeah, but I bet if you tossed a half-eaten muffin on one of the flatcars, that SD40-2 would stall out.
What Type Of Muffin Though
One of those healthy multigrain types. They're pretty dense, you know.
What an beautiful engine
Awesome Video! I saw the red schnabel car, WECX 800, go to Savannah, GA today.
I would like to know how they get loaded
Schnabel cars are interesting because the load is placed in between the two halves of the car, becoming part of the car for the trip.
Two types of loads:
Transformers: Tend to be box-like, so into the bottom of the transformer are build holes so the car and load are "pined" together.
Steam Generators: Tend to be round and long objects. The five flat cars are carrying top and bottom frame-work used to hold the two halves of the car together as well as hold the load during the trip.
I hope this helps you understand. Do a google search on "Schnabel" and you will see all sorts of interesting things being transported.
These two web sites should answer any and all of your questions:
southern.railfan.net/schnabel/cars/cebx800/cebx800.html
sbiii.com/rrschnab.html
Enjoy
A crane, obviously. A very, very, VERY big crane !!!!!
They probably hire Superman to put it together
We at "First Thermal Systems" loaded a vertical helical tube heater (rated at 12 million BTU/hr) on a set of these around in the late 1980s.
It was "only" about 200,000 pounds. It took two of our overhead cranes at lift it after two big mobile cranes laid it horizontally first while the railcars were backed under it in the plant.
It was going to an offshore rig in Mexico. I met it in Houston where it was loaded onto a barge because I was worried about getting it safely loaded. The shipyard foreman said, "Oh. we can lift that, the railcars and the engine all at once." -- and around the corner came the biggest mobile crane I have ever seen. There's a lot of really huge stuff out there!
Cool... and a couple 2fers to boot... great video
nice sound diesel locomotive and heavy train super video.hi from Slovakia
Hi and thanks for watching!
FastFlyingVirginian look on my model railway.sorry i speak little english..kolajiskoHo2 is my model train.hi
LOVE the horn in the first scene!!! Better than the Shit Nathan is making today! Leslie FTW
That was a pleasant bonus - no cars at the crossing, nobody else there with cameras, just me and a nice clean horn sound with a little echo on top. I've made a slightly edited version of it (minus some of the silence in between) to use as a ringtone when I'm feeling particularly obnoxious.
Great catches and sound!!!!
Thanks! It was great timing that there were so few interferences with the sound; I'm very happy with how it turned out.
Amazing kit!
1:15 train voice crack
I wonder did they ever restore cebx 801 since it's wreck I seen videos of it but it's was being moved back to Westinghouse damage hope they fix it if they didn't
Would like to see what they are going to haul with that.
There are a few videos on YT - none of them my own, unfortunately - that show the cars loaded. I'll have to dig back and see if I can find any info on what they were headed to pick up on this particular trip.
I like the horn on 3380 and nice catch with the Schnabel cars. Only wishing they were loaded...
I’ve seen HEPX 200 in person, even videos don’t turkey show how big these suckers are!
Yes I know that feature, here in europe we have the same kind of cars but they are smaller size because we had almost everywhere the catenary!
110 axles in that train........ (Not counting the two spare trucks on the flat.)
The sheer capacity of these cars is truly amazing! But I find that I'm most intrigued by their ability to shift the load. Are there videos that capture this in action? I haven't been able to find any...
I'm not sure. I know there are several videos on TH-cam of these cars with loads, but they all appear to be from places where the cars were out in the open and had no need to shift the load past a lineside obstruction.
FastFlyingVirginian Yeah, that's what I've found so far. Thanks.
FastFlyingVirginian Hey, I found one!
th-cam.com/video/sC8sQ7aSxLY/w-d-xo.html
Positively colossal structures!
Wow what a catch!
Awesome you probably saw me! I was over near the Station Inn on the Hill filming it!
Csx uses cabosses in my area for yard switchers
that's cool...I hope, one day, to catch a loaded schabel
Maybe they should consider using them as buffer cars between locomotives and long lengths of tank cars instead of using revenue making hoppers like they do now.
Very nice catch!
What is that there moving and what is it for? Moving a transformer?
The cars as seen here are empty. They are used for carrying a variety of high, wide, and/or heavy loads. The two halves of each car come apart, and the load is suspended between them. The flat cars are carrying various cradle parts used to hold the bottom of loads.
European Norca32 looks like a toy compared to this, and that's while being big units on their own. I wonder how many SD40-2s it takes to haul a loaded Schnabel.
It would only require one. The largest Schnabel is rated to carry a little over 2,000,000 lbs. I don't know how much the car itself weighs, but car and load would certainly come in under 3,000,000 lbs. A loaded 100 car coal train comes in at well over 20,000,000 lbs.
Really nice !!! Thanks
What kind of horn is that at the begining ?
It reminds me of the carriage for the Schwerer Gustave
s what camera are you using in this video it's amazing