John;
Coiling thin steel sheet was a technology invented for the sole reason that
flat sheet had to be cut into relatively short sheets for shipment, and the
users (car and appliance makers) found it inconvenient and wasteful to have
to keep stopping the assembly lines to remove the too-short end of one sheet
and put in place a new sheet. Rolling it in long sheets allowed both better
quality control at the makers end, and less damage in transit,
hypothetically, because the edges of the sheet were not as exposed in a coil
(those at the "lead" still were, but you get the point). They began rolling
into coil, at first small coils, in the early 50's.
The trouble began with how to ship it. Initially, finished cold-rolled steel
sheet was strapped into a custom pallet, and put into a boxcar for weather
protection, or if shipped as unfinished hot strip, shipped open on its side
in the ends of a gon. Some shippers had cold-rolled finished sheet coils
shipped on their sides and covered with canvas tarps. This lasted into 1955.
There are lots of good illustrations of this out there in the literature, and
drawings of how they secured it in various cars, in the AAR loading rules for
various dates. It is very interesting reading.
Coils shipped open in gons had custom-made cradles created to keep them from
rolling or toppling over and sliding, and knocking out car ends, which they
did (I have read correspondence on this). They would block the entire
interior of a gon, and made cradles out of heavy timbers to hold each coil in
place. Obviously, it got labor-intensive and expensive to do this for each
shipment, and given you were not using dedicated cars, the end user or the
railroad would toss out all the expensive blocking and they would have to
re-create it again for the next shipment.
In 1955 there was a flurry of design by NKP, PRR and others (I have some of
the patent paperwork), for dedicated steel shipment cars with
specially-designed blocking equipment semi-permanently installed that would
be back hauled empty. One of these was a "coil car" (a name that came
later). These consisted of gons or flats with cradles and covers. The gons
actually were designed to have skids inside that dissipated energy by sliding
across the rough floor, guided by guide timbers, with end bumpers to cushion
against end impacts. Erie and others used flats with rigid mounts. The gons
or flats could also be fitted with covers for weather protection. There was
a sizable fleet of "skid and cover" cars running around by 1957, and the PRR
had 310 by Oct 1956. They were in extremely high demand by that time by
USSteel, Bethlehem, J&L, and others, who made large steel coil expressly for
the automotive and appliance industries. Eventually, Erie, NKP, P&WV, NYC,
P&LE, PRR, B&O, B&LE, URR had skid and cover-equipped "coil cars". They
lasted into the 70's, but that is beyond our scope here.
The purpose-built "coil cars" of the mid-60's are also a later discussion.
There were also numerous gons fitted with three-piece Stanray covers, even
"Dutch Roof" covers, on roads like the RI and WP, the former over cradle
systems designed for either small coils or bundled sheet, the latter over
large coils. These were also very popular, and additional gons were always
being converted to meet demand. Some had their sides raised so they could
accommodate taller bundles or larger coils. WP, EJ&E, C&EI, PRR, B&O and NYC
had cars of this type, too.
Neither car took the place of box cars used in palletized coil shipment. The
PRR actually had a fleet of insulated X53's in coil service, and these are
still found today. They also had a number of X37A and X37B so equipped, but
for shipment of hot coil. These had double flooring and 24" steel sheet
riveted along the interior bottom of the sides and ends to keep the car
intact. Hot coil service was VERY hard on cars, as many NYC gons show. They
all served together.
No one has ever done a good model of the important skid and cover or roofed
steel shipment cars. ConCor tried, using their ubiquitous mill gon, with new
skids and covers, but they were very crude, and not really correct for any
one road. You could use any old box car for the latter.
Just to give you an idea, the PRR had the following, cars equipped:
Steel
Type
Note
Car Numbers
Car Type
# Cars
Cold Rolled Bar, GBSR
13
375774, 375910, 375945, 376704, 376839
G31d
5
Eqpt w/four movable bulkheads and 3-section roof for shipment of cold rolled
bar or tin plate in coils on pallets
Bundled Steel, GBR
111
376037, 376076, 376755, 376782, 376856
G31d
5
Eqpt w/extended sides and ends and removable roof for shipment of steel in
bundles. Dimensions: IH 5'; OW 10'5"; OH from rail to extreme width 6'11" and
top of sides 8'11", to top of running board 9'10", cap. 2,504 cu. Ft.
Bundled Steel,
118
385072-385321
G36c
250
Eqpt w/extended sides and ends and three-section removable roof
Bundled Steel, GBR
152
385000-385071
385522-386153
386154-386699
615000-617599
1
3
104
206
G36c
G36c
G36c
G36c
Eqpt w/extended sides and ends and three-section removable roof for shipment
of steel in bundles
Coil Strip Steel, XMP
Hot Rolled Steel
31
64400-65399
66400-66899
66900-67399
X37b
X37a
X37b
62
21
10
Eqpt w/double flooring and 24 inch steel plates around inside of car for
hauling coils of hot rolled steel
Hot Rolled Steel, FMS
60
473859, 473880, 474025, 474130, 474152, 474512, 474748, 474765, 474922,
474943, 475259
F30a
11
Eqpt w/low side rails for hauling hot rolled steel
Hot Rolled Steel, FMS
67
473765-475265
F30a
40
Eqpt w/double flooring for hauling hot rolled steel
Coil Strip Steel, GBS
10
375854, 375935, 376062, 376213, 376397, 376515, 376690, 376773
G31d
8
Eqpt w/coil pallet guides and wooden bumper beams across car ends
Coil Strip Steel, GBS
14
375750-376949, 376950-377449
G31d
G31e
209
302
Eqpt for hauling coil strip steel
Coil Strip Steel, GBS
78
375977, 376240, 376262, 376943
G31d
4
Eqpt w/stainless steel skids with covers
Coil Strip Steel, GBS
90
344500-348999
G27
29
Eqpt for hauling coil strip steel
Coil Strip Steel, FMS
98
475300-475549
F30d
20
Eqpt w/racks for hauling coil strip steel
Coil Strip Steel,
101
385322-385521,
385635, 386025
G36d
G36a
200
2
Eqpt w/skids and covers for shipment of coil strip steel
Coil Strip Steel,
Palletized
125
21195-21199
X53
5
Eqpt w/nine (9) belt rail Evans "DF" equipment. Cars are insulated and are
equipped for application of heaters. Equipped with 2 3/8 inch yellow pine
floor covered with 1/8 inch super diamond plate. Equipped with load
restraining floor snubbers for use in hauling palletized coiled steel.
Tin Plate, FMS
68
474020, 474114, 474320
F30a
3
Eqpt w/special fittings for hauling tin plate
You can see there was a lot of variety in dedicated steel-hauling cars!
Yes, I am getting around to writing an article on these cars, but I think you
may see one on B&O pretty soon from Mike Shylanski!
Oh, Chooch makes a marvelous little palletized coil load, for your box cars.
Have fun!
Elden Gatwood
________________________________
From: STMFC@... [mailto:STMFC@...] On Behalf Of
boyds1949
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2007 1:20 AM
To: STMFC@...
Subject: [STMFC] Steel Shipments
Prior to the use of the "non steam era" coil cars, how was sheet steel
shipped? Were coils shipped in boxcars? Or was the sheet steel
simply shipped flat in gons and/or boxcars?
John King
