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90 footers
Thank you for your interest in Paragon's 90' long alternative bridge structures.
We have many of these in stock in various locations (such as
California, Washington, Colorado, Louisiana, Florida, North/South Carolina and Maryland).
The actual length is usually closer to 89' 4".
In the past year or so, we have received more and more phone calls from
clients who had been sold "90' railroad flat cars" that are not working as they
had hoped. There are several reasons for this. There are several
"sub-categories" of 90' flat cars, some are good while some are not. Here
is a brief explanation of various 90' long flat cars:
- TOFC/COFC: These are idea cars that we primarily use.
The term TOFC means "Trailer On Flat Car" which means that this railcar was
used to transport semi-trailers. While the term COFC means "Container On
Flat Car" which means that this railcar was used to transport ocean containers
(single stack...not double stacked). These cars often look identical
with it's deck about waist high. Most of these railcars make excellent
bridges.
- Well: These cars run a little shorter than a standard 90'
flat car. The deck is only a few inches off of the ground which is why
these flats are commonly seen carrying a double stack of ocean containers.
They have high side walls covering several feet of the bottom container.
There is a lot of issues that need to be addressed before these can be used as
bridge but they could work.
- Center Beam: These railcars are often seen carrying lumber.
They have 8' bulkheads on each end of the railcar with a 8' tall beam running
the length of the railcar, right in the middle. The deck is about waist
high but the thickness of this deck is only about 15" throughout the railcar.
This railcar usually makes a horrible bridge.
- Autorack: These railcars are used to transport automobiles.
They are often thought of as "cattle cars" as they have sides similar to
trailers that haul cattle. The overall height is over 10'.
Although most autoracks are about the same height, they come in two
configurations: bi-level and tri-level. Bi's are usually used to haul
taller automobiles, such as trucks, while the tri's haul common passenger
cars. You've got to be really careful when using this car type.
Modifications usually need to be done to these cars in order to make them work
as a bridge. One thing to watch out for is if the deck is "standard
level" or "low level". While both still need modifications to make them
work, the low level require a greater extent of modifications. The
"rack" or top portion is removed so when you look at the railcar it may appear
to be a "general flat" but a closer look will reveal all that is needed to
know.
- General flat: These railcars haul everything under the sun.
The deck is about waist high and usually have a steel deck. The
condition of the deck can vary greatly as many users have welded brackets or
chains or whatever they needed to do in order to get their load on the flat
car. This is usually a fairly good car to convert into a bridge.
- Spine or skeleton car: These are usually used to haul ocean
containers or trailers but do not have a usable deck. Instead, the
railcar will have one main center beam with just a few "arms" that stick out
to support the wheels of the trailers. Obviously, without a deck these
cars do not make a good bridge. Making modifications to these cars to
make them work as a bridge is usually far to expensive.
- Ambulance cars: These cars are used to haul other damaged
railcars from a derailment site to a repair facility. Kind of like a
"tow truck" in the railroad industry. These cars usually have a lot of
stuff welded to the decks but can work as a bridge. Also see "autoracks"
as some ambulance cars are converted from autoracks (without the top rack).
For example, Redstreaks Rail has some very nice ambulance cars with an
excellent configuration for "towing" or carrying damaged railcars but, nothing
against them, their ambulance cars would make terrible bridges.
(Picture of ambulance car)
As you can see, there are a lot of different types of railroad flat cars out
there. We can glance at a picture and not only know what type of railcar
it is but also a lot more history behind it than you probably care to know.
Do your homework and don't be fooled by "good deals". Most of these typically come with steel decks. Shipping
these via railroad to you might a good alternative if you have your own railroad
tracks or if you are purchasing more than four railcars at one time.
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