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You wanna put what in where?
Now when i was driving trucks and forklifts, when we had to load something say, way up in the front of the trailer (especially shorties [pups]) that was heavy, we used a jack/stand under the front of the trailer (ahead of the dollies). ofcourse you have to add the 5000lbs of the forklift your moving that with, too. thats alot of weight ahead of the front dollies. trailers do flip! thus, jacks/stands. remove when the back half the trailer is finished loading, and its ready for a tractor.
now ive never loaded/unloaded railcars. however my time riding in the cabs of SR 38's was switching a huge paper mill/plant. they shipped out huge rolls of paper in boxcars. i saw them drive right in with a roll and back out again. repeat. and i dont recall seeing the car tip. though i was inside, same level as the forklift, which is floor height of boxcar. so i couldnt see its underframe or trucks nor could i see if it was jacked.
do railroads or shippers jack cars for loading or unloading? seems logical you could jack a car if it had a 'lift here' plate on it.
Edit: i wasnt clear in my statement. i was meaning would you jack the corners or the sides of a car (or at 'lift here plates). i could never fathom a car flipping end to end like i described in the truck scenario. yeah, i had heard of the centerbeam car. load one side partially then other side and repeat. same for unloading. this is kinda my point.
consider jacking the corners of a center beam. thus eliminating the roll over problem. which was the effect i was trying to achieve here. roll over. sorry about that.
3 Answers
- Samurai HogheadLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
I've seen at least two cars flip with my own eyes.
One was a center-beam flat. The consignee unloaded one side, then had to have the car turned to unload the other. When it got onto the outside leg of the wye, the sharp curvature on the inside provided the impetus for the car laying over.
Another was when a car was being re-railed. A sling was around a draw bar to make the lift, when the load became unstable, leaned and the car flipped onto its side.
"Jack Here" plates are usually used when necessary to lift the car for heavy maintenance, such as replacing wheels, the trucks, springs, etc.,or during the required COTS (Cleaned, Oiled, Tested and Stenciled) dates at their mandated ten year intervals.
- DerailLv 71 decade ago
Because the rail car wheel sets are located at the ends of the cars as far as possible (save for some extended length box cars), one end of a car can have 50 tons in it while waiting for the entire car to be loaded. It's not a problem. The only time there's a potential problem is with Center Beam Flats.
http://www.westkentuckynrhs.org/archives/684
They are loaded from the side and loading must be alternated from one side to the other to prevent too much weight tipping the car over.
- ?Lv 71 decade ago
No. Rail cars are much more stable than semi trailers, and don't need stabilization jacks underneath while loading/unloading.
