A Schnabel car or Schnabel wagon is a specialized type of railroadfreight 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 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 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. 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. It has 36 axles. Each half contains nine trucks which are connected by a complex system of span bolsters. Its tare weight is and has a load limit of for a maximum gross weight of. WECX 801 has the ability to shift its load vertically and up to laterally on either side of the car's center line. When empty, this car measures 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 long and has a capacity of. The train's speed is limited to when WECX 801 is empty, but only when loaded and requires a crew of six operators in addition to the train's crew. The word Schnabel is from 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 Wehrmacht used Schnabel cars for transporting the Karl-Gerät heavy-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.
Patent history
The Schnabel design is covered under US patent #US 4041879 A, filed December 1, 1975, issued to Charles R. Cockrell, with Combustion Engineering, Inc. as assignee, now expired.
