Bob;

I have seen that one, but it is unusual.  I have looked into many “restricted” car notes and stencils/placarding, and the latter are surprisingly rare, given the potential consequences.

This one is confusing, in that it is not telling us anything of detail, such as “3/4 of load limit must be concentrated on outer 3 of cross-bearers at each end of floor”, or something similar.

Was this on one of LV’s Greenville well cars?  The silhouette looks very similar.  In which case, I can understand the need to inform people to watch the car’s condition.  Cars that had a well, in particular, were vulnerable, given the lack of a center sill.  That focused forces on the side sills, and made them vulnerable to bending, under loads that pushed on the center of the car.

This was especially true of depressed center, well, and well hole flats, and even some gons, box cars, and hoppers, given for instance the use of long hoppers in iron ore service.  In chasing this, I have been told it was up to “common sense”, in application; thus, long hoppers loaded with a pile of ore over each truck, with no placarding or stenciling.

The goal was to avoid loading cars in a way that would collapse them, or in other cases, cause them to push the sides outside the clearance diagram, potentially causing a side swipe.  This one looks to be oriented to car inspectors, not loaders/reloaders.

I am surprised we don’t see this more often.

Elden Gatwood

Subject: [Non-DoD Source] [RealSTMFC] Placard: Concentrated Floor Loading

Placard: Concentrated Floor Loading

This is a Lehigh Valley Railroad Company placard I found on the 'net.

I've seen my fair share of placards but this one is a first for me.

Bob Chaparro

Hemet, CA