Date
1 - 12 of 12
Steel Banding for Rough Cut lumber Loads
|
Bryian Sones
Hello All, Does anyone know when steel banding started being used to bundle lumber for transport on rails? Also, does anyone have any Pics of early steel banding on flatcars they could possibly share? Thank you, Bryian Sones Union Pacific Prototype Modeler Murrieta, CA |
|
|
|
Tony Thompson
Bryian Sones wrote: Does anyone know when steel banding started being used to bundle lumber for transport on rails? Late 1950s. I have SP photos of experiments at a lumber mill but they are from 1963. Tony Thompson |
|
|
|
Bryian Sones
Thanks Tony, Late 1950's would be what I'm looking for, but I'd be interested in the 1963 photo's you have. They could be helpful if you are willing to share a few of them, please? A couple of the cars I have are SP flats and a gon. Thank You, Bryian Sones Union Pacific Prototype Modeler Murrieta, CA
On Wednesday, August 31, 2022 at 01:26:14 PM PDT, Tony Thompson <tony@...> wrote:
Bryian Sones wrote: Does anyone know when steel banding started being used to bundle lumber for transport on rails? Late 1950s. I have SP photos of experiments at a lumber mill but they are from 1963. Tony Thompson |
|
|
|
This photo was reported to be from 1950, but it could be as late as 1953 I think, assuming that the car's reweigh interval was not violated (1949->1953) Someone once offered cast resin loads almost identical to these, but I only have a single stack example. I sure wish I had been able to find more of the castings, because it's beautiful as well as very light in weight. On 8/31/2022 4:26 PM, Tony Thompson wrote:
--
Tim O'Connor Sterling, Massachusetts 
|
|
|
|
Bryian Sones
Thanks for the pic Tim! It appears I've may have a good start according to your photo. The photo I've attached is just a mockup without the cribbing and bands. The stack are real wood, hollow in the middle to save on wood. The bottom stacks have weight inside of them. After looking at your photo I may add some longer stacks to add interest to the load. Bryian Sones Union Pacific Prototype Modeler Murrieta, CA
On Wednesday, August 31, 2022 at 02:29:19 PM PDT, Tim O'Connor <timboconnor@...> wrote:
This photo was reported to be from 1950, but it could be as late as 1953 I think, assuming that the car's reweigh interval was not violated (1949->1953) Someone once offered cast resin loads almost identical to these, but I only have a single stack example. I sure wish I had been able to find more of the castings, because it's beautiful as well as very light in weight. On 8/31/2022 4:26 PM, Tony Thompson wrote: Bryian Sones
wrote:
Does anyone know when steel banding started being used to bundle lumber for transport on rails? Late 1950s. I have
SP photos of experiments at a lumber mill but they are from
1963.
Tony Thompson
-- Tim O'Connor Sterling, Massachusetts 
|
|
|
|
Brian/all,
I do not know when steel banding first applied to lumber - but I have a related data point. I worked at Fisherman's Packing Corp. in Anacortes the summer of 1961 and I was in "the warehouse gang". One of our jobs was to prep pallets of canned salmon (already in boxes) for shipping out by box car. In that summer we transitioned from using steel banding (approx. 3/4" wide) to using what we called "super tape" - which was a 3M product and had long threads of nylon that were bonded to each other with some kind of flexible glue and had one side that was sticky. The sticky side kept the tape in the rolls and also kept it in place when applied to whatever it was holding. It was also about 3/4" wide and was used as a one-for-one replacement of the steel bands. The advantage of the tape was that it was a lot faster than having to use a special tool that cinched the steel bands and then applying a crimped 'keeper' to hold it. That tape was super strong - yet you could cut it with a sharp blade. It was so strong that I used just 2 strips of it to hold up the motor of my VW van that I was re-building. I did see steel banding on wood loads -well- after that time frame. I think the load holding method that replaced steel bands was what is called "shed packs" (wrapped in plastic in a shed at the mill). - Jim in the PNW |
|
|
|
Late 1950s - Steel strapping was used before World War II on railroad flat car and gondola loads. It was very widely used during the war for military shipments and servicemen became familiar with it, leading to a great increase in its use after the war. Steel strapping for lumber loads, in the form of banding, was not seen until the end of the 1950s. The first use of it on the Southern Pacific, a major lumber shipper, may have been as late as 1959. |
|
|
|
Bryian Sones
Thanks All for the info, Are there any thoughts on Tim's photo that seems to pre-date what has been said? Seems a long time for a car to be in violation. Don't think this is a photo of a car in service from the late 1950's. Bryian Sones Union Pacific Prototype Modeler Murrieta, CA
On Thursday, September 1, 2022 at 10:36:26 AM PDT, Bob Chaparro via groups.io <chiefbobbb@...> wrote:
Late 1950s - Steel strapping was used before World War II on railroad flat car and gondola loads. It was very widely used during the war for military shipments and servicemen became familiar with it, leading to a great increase in its use after the war. Steel strapping for lumber loads, in the form of banding, was not seen until the end of the 1950s. The first use of it on the Southern Pacific, a major lumber shipper, may have been as late as 1959. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dennis Storzek
Because finished lumber was normally shipped in boxcars in that era, to 1) keep it clean, 2) keep it dry, 3) keep rust stains from forming under the bands. This changed when they started to wrap the bundles before banding them, but this wasn't until the late sixties.
Dennis Storzek |
|
|
|
And could even be kept clean in a gondola ! On 9/3/2022 2:06 PM, Dennis Storzek via groups.io wrote: Because finished lumber was normally shipped in boxcars in that era, to 1) keep it clean, 2) keep it dry, 3) keep rust stains from forming under the bands. This changed when they started to wrap the bundles before banding them, but this wasn't until the late sixties. --
Tim O'Connor Sterling, Massachusetts 
|
|
|
|
boro2ang
The gondola photo is either LVL or Glue Lam Beams.
Bryan Borovec |
|
|