The coil steel cars like the Bachmann and Walthers seem like an obvious
solution to the problem of shipping coiled steel. It is so heavy you have
to load with a crane and you need some sort of weather protection. So why
can't we add truss rods and Andrews trucks to the Wathers models? In other
words, how did they ship coil steel before these cars back in steam days?
Or maybe they didn't? Was it the development of heavier cranes? Wider
spread use of 70 and 100 ton trucks? Some development in the auto industry
to ship steel in this manner? - John