Hey Bachmann I was thinking about yalls Schnabel the other day when it hit me. How cool would it be to have one of these in n scale. Figured I would swing that by y'all and would love to know if that is possible or if that is something y'all are already thinking about doing this car. Thanx.
Granted, it isn't from Bachmann, but there already is an N-scale model of one on the market.
(http://www.elginlocomotiveworks.com/CEBX800-Render.JPG)
I used to haul these things from a GE turbine plant in Greenville, SC. They always moved in dedicated trains, never mixed with regular freight.
These things are loaded by sending each end of the car down parallel tracks. The car approaches the load sideways, then the car straightens out as it enters a single track. This way, the long line of trucks under each end absorb any sideways force when loading, so the car can be loaded without danger of tipping over. The term "loading" hardly applies here, as the load itself forms the center of the car. Each end of the car supports one end of the load. The load does not sit on the car, it links the ends together.
Of course, with this arrangement, the tension/compression forces in the train are transmitted directly through the load. So trains are short and moved very carefully at low speed. When the cars are moved empty, the two ends are linked together in the center as in the photo.
The big red things with the flat tops are not the load, nor are they a platform for the load to sit upon. They are bulkheads for the load to attach to.
The purpose for these cars is to move extremely heavy and large loads. The reason for the huge number of axles is to spread the load weight over as many wheels as possible.
We really had no problem with clearances with these. We hauled so many of them that all close clearances along the route would clear them.
Later, I ran trains carrying Space Shuttle solid rocket booster motors. These were oversize cylinders, but were not particularly heavy. These did not travel on Schnabel cars. Long depressed-center flats were sufficient.
These moved in dedicated trains, too, including an occupied business car. The problem of clearances were solved by leading the rocket cars with empty boxcars that had big iron hoops welded to them that were the diameter of the rocket motors. If a clearance was too tight, the iron hoops would contact it before the rocket motor would.
Les