A Schnabel car or Schnabel wagon 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 span bolsters that distribute the weight of the load and the lifting arm over many wheels.
When a Schnabel car is empty, the two lifting arms are connected to one another and the car can usually operate at normal freight train speeds. Some Schnabel cars include hydraulic equipment that will either lift or horizontally shift the load while in transit (at very low speeds) to clear obstructions along the car's route. As of 2012, there were 31 Schnabel cars operating in Europe, 30 in North America, 25 in Asia, and one in Australia.[1]
The largest Schnabel car in public railroads operation, reporting number WECX 801, was completed in 2012 by Kasgro Railcar for Westinghouse Nuclear and is used in North America primarily to transport reactor containment vessels.[2] It has 36 axles (18 for each half). Each half contains nine trucks which are connected by a complex system of span bolsters. Its tare (unloaded) weight is 399.6ST and has a load limit of 1017.9ST for a maximum gross weight of 1417.5ST. WECX 801 has the ability to shift its load 44inches vertically and up to 40inches laterally on either side of the car's center line.[3] When empty, this car measures 231abbr=onNaNabbr=on long; for comparison, a conventional boxcar currently operating on North American railroads has a single two-axle truck at each end of the car, measures 50to long and has a capacity of 70to. The train's speed is limited to 25mi/h when WECX 801 is empty, but only 15mi/h when loaded, and the system requires a crew of six operators in addition to the train's crew.[4]
The second largest Schnabel car in service, owned by ABB, bears the CEBX 800 registration, and is used in North America. Built by Krupp AG, it has 36 axles (18 for each half). Each half has 9 bogies linked together by a complex system of span bolsters. Its tare weight (empty mass) is . When empty, this wagon is long. It can carry a load of long and . By comparison, a classic boxcar has only one bogie with two axles at each end, is about 15m (49feet) long and carries a load that does not exceed .[5]
The word Schnabel is from German German: Tragschnabelwagen, meaning "carrying-beak-wagon", because of the usually tapered shape of the lifting arms, resembling a bird's beak.
In World War II the German German: i=unset|[[Wehrmacht]] used Schnabel cars for transporting the German: i=unset|[[Karl-Gerät]] heavy-calibre (54 cm and 60 cm calibre) siege mortars. These were self-propelled with a continuous-track suspension chassis of substantial length to maneuver into a firing position over a short range, but depended on a pair of purpose-designed Schnabel cars for long-range transport by rail.[6] The same system was also used at the same time for the rail transport of the French FCM 2C super-heavy armoured fighting vehicle.
In the United States, the first Schnabel car, WECX 200, was built for Westinghouse Nuclear by manufacturer Greenville Steel Car in the 1960s.
| Class number | Maximum carrying capacity | Tare weight | Wheelsets | Quantity (DB as at 31 Dec 1997) | Length over buffers | Bogie pivot spacing or wheelset spacing | Length of low loading bay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uaai 812[7] [8] | 159t | 10 | 1 | N/A | |||
| Uaai 820 [9] | 157t | 12 | 1 | ||||
| Uaai 821 [10] | 190t (180t with suspension bars) | 12 | 1 | ||||
| Uaai 823 [11] | 230t | 16 | 1 | N/A | N/A | ||
| Uaai 831[12] | 275t (250t with suspension bars) | 20 | 2 | | N/A | ||
| Uaai 836 [13] | 317t | 20 | 1 | N/A | |||
| Uaai 837 [14] | 398t | N/A | 24 | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Uaai 838 (313t with suspension bars)[15] | N/A | 341t | 24 | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Uaai 839[16] | 454t | N/A | 32 | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
The Class Uaai low-loading wagon with special equipment is marketed Europe-wide exclusively by the heavy load department, Heavy Cargo + Service, of Nuclear Cargo + Service.[17] [18]