Moving a larger transformer on a railroad track 2

[bdn2004]

We are purchasing a large transformer that weighs approximately 400,000 pounds. The plan has always been to bring it in by rail.

The question has been asked if there is a maximum weight limit that can be transported on rail, and if different rails have different capacities?

This may not be the right forum, but I thought somebody may have run into this before and could point me in the right direction.

 

[Zogzog]

I would ask the guys you bought it from, or ask sunbelt.

 

[Marmite]

I think your best course of action would be to speak to a logistic Company specialising in rail freight. They should be able to give you the maximum dimensions and weight. The manner of transportation to site and installation of large transformers needs to be thought about upfront before you purchase, as factors may have a bearing on the design of the transformer. Lets hope its not too tall, too wide and too heavy.
Regards
Marmite

 

[bill1055]

Google "Schnabel Railcar". I know Detroit Edison has used this type of railcar for transporting transformers in the past. I have seen such a car in use in the Cleveland area. The car itself had the GE logo on it.

 

[oldfieldguy]

GE's facility in Bradenton, Florida has a Schnabel car. It is one option for moving a large transformer, or a large piece of a transformer.

The other posters make a good point. Your prospective vendor will certainly work with you to decide transportation options to your site. These options need to be considered very early in the design process as they will materially affect the initial design of the transformer. Even the use of the Schnabel railcar must be designed into the transformer package.

Seriously, as Marmite said, chasing down all the details of transporting this load might be somewhere you want to tap on resources of a logistics company. There are a lot of issues that might not be readily apparent, such as government permitting, routing, etc.

Good luck on your new transformer.

old field guy

 

[itsmoked]

Maybe you have more access to this:

http://grouper.ieee.org/groups/transformers/info/S04/S04-TransportationPresentation-Abstract.pdf

http://www.masscops.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39840

http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=14547

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[Zogzog]

I used to work at that Bradenton plant when it was Ohio Transformer (It is actually in Palmetto) and back then they rented the railcar, wonder if GE still does.

 

[bdn2004]

Thanks for the good advice everyone.

And "It Smoked" the slide show of that large transformer falling over is GREAT!! I will be sharing that with the plant. That was almost kind of funny.

I have contacted a logistics company and have received a budgetary quote of almost a half million dollars for their effort.

Specifically what I was looking for was the exact rating of our rails and how it's determined. That was the question posed to me. I'll contact the logistics company and moving company for the answer, just thought someone might know.

 

[itsmoked]

I just talked with a railman and a conductor for Union Pacific, Southern Pacific, and Pacific Electric.

The Schnabel car is good for 550,000lbs. It has 12 axles.
It's 16 feet wide.
It's 211 feet long!!
Its deck is hydraulic so it can move to the side to avoid rail obstructions.

It has a 10MPH speed limit restriction.

There is a smaller Schnabel somewhere that has less axles and can run up to 45MPH.

In rail systems there are restrictions of all types. There are weight restrictions, speed restrictions, width restrictions, and length restrictions(dictated by curvature). Imagine boggy areas with pour rail support or trestles with fixed support limits.

In our rail service we recently had an issue. NASA decided to start carrying both Shuttle booster engines on a single designated train instead of on two separate trains. There was no great problem with this until it was decided to remove the buffer cars from between booster sections, thus raising the track loading dramatically. We felt this to be a bad idea.

One particular swamp section of trestle was a major concern. The rail company hooked up several heavy locomotives and ran them across the trestle. Thus proving the safety. When the actual load went on the trestle at 3MPH one of the escort personal noted a loud popping sound, followed by the trestle diagonals being forcefully ejected from the sides of the trestle. This was promptly followed by the ballast box siding being blown off, and subsequently the ballast itself spraying laterally out of its housings. The two engines then toppled off the track taking the escort car and some booster sections with them.

So it all comes down to making sure the actual rail you want to take your load over is capable. There is no fixed number or weight for the entire US rail system.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[civilperson]

Use the dry weight of your transformer and take off the conservator tank, fans, radiators, bushings and any other parts that can be disassembled. Still weigh 400 kips?

 

[rmw]

First to itsmoked; excellent post. You covered the topic well.

bdn2004, the RR will tell you the weight limitations along the route you need to move the transformer assuming you find a car to haul it.

Just remember ship happens.

http://www.cargolaw.com/2002nightmare_noturn.html

Plan for anything and have excellent insurance.

It is all physics; not a transformer, but a closely related piece of power plant equipment.

http://www.cargolaw.com/2000nightmare_singlesonly5.html#Stellamare

rmw

 

[itsmoked]

Thanks rmw.

You FOUND IT!! I spent fully 20 minutes looking for that 'floating' transformer. I kept thinking it might be at Cargo Law but instead wasted all my time using Google trying to find it. All it came up with was the one I found.

Glad you found it.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[rmw]

itsmoked,

I knew it was at cargolaw but it still took me almost an hour to find it. I find their site hard to navigate and part of the problems is that when you click into a thread that isn't the one you are looking for it is too interesting to just click right out of. I even tried googling using cargolaw, transformer, barge and creek in the search field and didn't find it that way.

I kept thinking the name of the thread was "right full rudder" but I couldn't find that. Turned out to be "no right turn". Well, so much for an old tired memeory.

At least with the generator I remembered the name of the ship that tipped over. Searching for photos of that disaster was what introduced me to cargo law in the first place.

rmw

 

[itsmoked]

Yeah I find google more worthless everyday.

And I totally know what you mean about Cargo Law. That is one messed up but interesting site.

Keith Cress
kcress -

http://www.flaminsystems.com

 

[Runsor]

Here's a miserable recursive rescue operation

http://shouthill.googlepages.com/files

File: HoistingHoisters.pps

 

[Runsor]

I found the same recursive pictures from CargoLaw

http://www.cargolaw.com/2005nightmare_catch-day.html#the-feature

and the last picture appears to be a FAKE.