page_title: Flatcar
section_title: Bulkhead flatcars
hierarchical_section_title: Flatcar / Specialized types / Bulkhead flatcars
caption_attribution_description: English: Duryea yard from outside across mainline track -- view looking apx. South and about 210 ft from North Light Tower. Yard track count diminishes successively downwards from 9-10 storage tracks and the mainline track to three visible of 4 tracks here as the yard narrows beyond the green, red boxcars and nearby covered Hopper. Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad / ICE 66210 high-ended, stake sided flatcar sits at the foreground of the image.
context_page_description: A flatcar is a piece of railroad or railway rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck mounted on a pair of trucks or bogies, one at each end containing four or six wheels. Occasionally, flat cars designed to carry extra heavy or extra large loads are mounted on a pair of bogies under each end. The deck of the car can be wood or steel, and the sides of the deck can include pockets for stakes or tie-down points to secure loads. Flatcars designed for carrying machinery have sliding chain assemblies recessed in the deck.
  Flatcars are used for loads that are too large or cumbersome to load in enclosed cars such as boxcars. They are also often used to transport intermodal containers or trailers as part of intermodal freight transport shipping.
context_section_description: Bulkhead flatcars are designed with sturdy end-walls (bulkheads) to prevent loads from shifting past the ends of the car. Loads typically carried are pipe, steel slabs, utility poles and lumber, though lumber and utility poles are increasingly being hauled by skeleton cars. Bulkheads are typically lightweight when empty. An empty bulkhead on a train puts it at a speed restriction to go no more than 50 mph (80 km/h). Since bulkheads are lightweight when empty, hunting can occur when the car is above 50 mph (80 km/h). Hunting is the wobbling movement of the trucks on a freight car or a locomotive. If the wheels hunt against the rails for a period of time, there is a high risk of a derailment.
caption: Worn ICE stakesided bulkhead flatcar in the RBMN Duryea yard in July 2012
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