An interesting clip I found on line. Enjoy
That load is balanced over 4' 8.5". Doubtful there's that much smooth straight and leveled track on the mainline much less in the hills to do that today.
Has to be quite the pucker factor driving onto the railcar with the tracks hanging over the edge.
The decks on rail cars used for moves like this where widened and reinforced, generally 2 cars of this type where used. But still it looks like one shot deal...... Here is a picture where a speeder is the locomotive and an older Loader is used...
The decks may have been widened but the tracks are still hanging over the edge on each side.
No different then tracks hanging over the edge of a lowboy trailer, except it's farther to go to hit the ground. It looked to me like he's got a hydraulic undercarriage so he's got good control and the car was flat and level.
Those are fun times, thanks for posting @chris berlin Note the snatch block on the stick heel on the excavator. You can pick a huge load there, compared to out at the end of the stick. Good to see an example of that. They had an old B-E with the stick off it and a winch hung out there around these parts for just that reason.
The forestry machines are a lot higher up and top heavy than an excavator.
you see lots of them in some form of belly up or tipped over in the threads here. None too forgiving.
Sketchy as hell transporting such a tall load on 4.5' wide wheel centers! Basically like moving that loader around on mini excavator width tracks!!
Except the lowboys wheels/tires are 8' wide, not 4.5' wide!!!
Except I never mentioned excavators. Forestry machines move on lowboys with the tracks hanging over, too. I'm more interested in the 56.5 inch rail gauge with that tall of a load.
Low boys are lower to the ground and the wheels are much wider apart. Still pretty sketchy loading them when the machine is wider and hanging over the sides. Probably pretty hairy for the truck driver too.
To my knowledge this was done for years without incident....
Yes it looks tippy, but it's common to take an meter gage loco and set it on top of a standard gage flat car for shipping. https://flic.kr/p/hSGNnp
A locomotive wouldn't be as tippy but would have to be just as careful moving it.
The other thing to consider is the considerable mass of that bull flat car. It weighs way more than a lowboy. The trucks and axles are down there at the bottom and if you were to try and calculate the actual center of gravity it would be lower than it appears.
The only trick to moving with a bullcar is making sure the end of the car you walk off is supported. Cars just sit on the trucks with a pin poking down to catch the bolster on the trucks. there is no retainer involved. If, you are too far away from the brow log or do not have support, the end of the car will pivot up and it then becomes real interesting. Weyerhaeuser Snoqualmie bought their first Madills in 1976(?) as a batch of 3-009s and 1- 046, all on tracks. They came out of Canada by rail. When they started to unload in the sort yard, they had quite an audience admiring the new iron. The first 009 came down the car and started off the car onto the browlog and up in the air went the other end of the car. The gasp sucked all the oxygen out of a three county area. The car pivoted under the 009 and came to rest on the ground. No damage to the machine. After assessing the mess, they dumped several loads of gravel at the end of the cars still on the rail and walked the rest off. No big deal. The only comment I heard was from out senior log truck driver who was a hold over from the end of RR logging and had hired out as a brakeman when first hired on in the '30s. He commented; "well, they didn't want my opinion..." He retired with 44 years at Weyerhaeuser about 6 months later. If, you watch close, they jam the car into a pile of dirt before loading. A little crude, but it works. 30 years after the filming, not many people left with experience doing a task like that.
it doesn't hang down off the sides, it's much higher perched up on the flat bed car, the trucks removed and cribbing pyramids holding it up there. The point is the rail width is still the same.
The weight of a locomotive is in a narrower section in the middle. A yarder puts weight out wider and has a higher center of gravity. Wouldn't want to move either but given the choice would rather move a locomotive.
Well as long as the roadbed is OK and the speed is limited not a problem. They moved Steam shovel weighing in at 60 tons on standard flat cars on 3 foot gauge railroads..even logging RR...
I thought I'd seen that move, or one very much like it, before........
How about this one in the UK ? https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5265/5873595709_0bd6c73a32_b.jpg Oopsie.......
That was 70012 that was dropped in Newport docks when it was being lifted off the ship that brought it from the US. Either that or the MAFI was dropped, one or the other. It was subsequently written off and shipped back to GE in the US. The shipping line’s insurance paid for the losses.
Expensive mistake! It had to be scary having a locomotive "drop".
If I'm not mistaken, I've seen the video of the drop. It only dropped as I recall about 5 feet but what a bang and what a cloud of dust. The video I saw made mention that it was going to be loaded up and sent straight to the scrappers since it had beccome an insurance claim. Check your riggin' boys and girls.
The reports were that it was dropped between 4 & 5 metres as a result of a rigging failure. I don't think it was caught on video because it apparently happened inside the hold of the ship. It was sent back to GE in the US, rebuilt using a replacement chassis and thereafter used as a test hack.
The one I saw was dropped on the dock, so it was another rigging failure.
You mean this one.? That happened in South Africa. IIRC the loco was an Australian-built GE.
You would think they'd use oversize rigging picking up a locomotive.
that looks about right.
I hear that the only rigging allowed is wire rope, and the idiots use the nylon straps.
If the crane operators or riggers use the wrong rigging, they should be on the hook for any damages.
Nothing wrong IMO with nylon slings provided they are properly maintained and of a suitable SWL for whatever is being lifted. Personally I prefer them, they are far easier to handle than either wires or chains. TBH I have never heard of any equipment manufacturer insisting that a certain type of lifting gear must be used to lift their equipment, usually the word used is either "suitable" or "adequate". Normally the only thing the OEM specifies is indicating which are the lifting points from which the machine has to be suspended, and clearly indicating the difference between lifting and tie-down points. Deviate from that at your peril.....
Well the legality/responsibility starts with the Heavy Haul/Lift company hired...Starting with the Project Manager, Project engineer Job superintendent Transport Superintendent...Lift Superintendent...Rigging Superintendent..Rigger...and the Crane operator ! They are at the bottom of the pile...and on heavy lift jobs there is a detailed rigging plan specifying in detail what gear is used and what gear may be substituted . As a Captain I was involved in a few heavy lifts shore to ship , ship to shore...everything is checked and signed off by someone. a REQUIREMENT from the insurance, ABS, The Shipping Company, and a few more....
Wonder what caused the rigging to fail and who's to blame? I did a job and needed the skid steer in the basement of a church. Mammoet had a huge crane there to lift HVAC units on the roof. Needed the long reach. I had an unexpected delay getting to the job site. The crane was still there and right beside where the skid steer had to be lowered. They asked the weight and I said about 4800lbs. They thought about it but declined the lift because they had already signed off on the job. I'm sure the crane would barely notice a skid steer being so close but respect their professionalism. A smaller 25 or 30 ton crane came the next day to lower it.
Well, there you have it ! As far as liability is concerned once the lift is signed off everything else is not covered by liability insurance !
That was a two crane operation, and it was looking quite sporty from my experience with two crane operations. We go REALLY slow and the lift director has somebody on both slings making sure all is plumb all the time. It takes just a little side loading and you get off your softeners, the forces go up quickly, Things like that happen. Note how fast the second sling failed from the shock load. They were not long on rigging. Baskets are great because you don't have to concern yourself with the integrity of points, but the softening procedures and materials are crucial. One booboo there will slice either wire rope or nylon. Back in my youth, we set up manufactured homes and they had a "failure to communicate" how much softener you needed on a wire rope sling. I was not there to see them slice through the double 2x10 fir rim and 8' through the subfloor and walls, but I did see the aftermath. The crane op and rigger really should have known a big piece of angle iron with a radius pipe was required there. Maybe they set it and it fell away. Who knows. The factory came out and rebuilt that part of the house on the basement foundation.
Management overkill, top heavy, things get lost, and there is always someone marching around making sure they have pi$$ed in all the corners marking their territory. Right or wrong it travels through every business major or not.
I was at sea for over 25 years...15 as a Captain...and did 7 heavy Transports aboard...the moment that a load touches your deck/cargo hold you own it until it is at its destination and on the dock again. So when we loaded a 50 Million $$$ Piece of equipment I made sure it was checked and checked again, meaning there was an ABS Inspector/Surveyor an Insurance Inspector and a Surveyor from the Shipping company...AND...Most of all, all working on the securing of the cargo where certified for their job, from the welders to the stevedores including my crew members all of them including myself had to provide certifications or sign off on all the hold downs, welds dunnage etc to secure the cargo. and only after they all gave their OK and signed off I did a final inspection and signed the documents.
I drove truck off and on most of my life, I had to account for every tomato in every flat/or every sprig of asparagus in every lug from time loaded to time unloaded had to be load locked in place no damage. Because any damage or missing produce would come out of my pay check and that check wasn't much money. So I being the captain of my truck, load inspector, load safety officer and over all dock watcher had to sign off on a form no one gave a crap about to document the load in case of discrepancy.
I hear you...at the end of the day ...Truck driver or captain...it is your ass ! You know the difference between a truck and a cargo ship...ship takes longer to stop and has a bigger turn radius...the BS is the same...
Some pics of my scratch build bull car with load.
They look great ! Love the dozer !
It’s a First Gear model - most made of brass and some plastic parts.
And here’s the confirmation. Somehow it popped up on my YouTube feed.