The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-03-01
ARE ATTRACTING ATTENTION.
Other Roads Are Inspecting the New
All Steel Cars of Union Pacific.

Omaha, March AFTER experiment.
ing with steel fiat cars and steel pas
senger, postal, baggage and Pullman
cars, railroad officials are devoting
their attention now to steel box cars,
and it is likely that large contracts will
be awarded shortly by some of the
largest railroad systems in the coun-
try for this class of equipment. East
ern railroad officials are in this terri
tory now inspecting the new steel box
car just completed at the Omaha shops
by the Union Pacific. 1t is the first
steel box car ever built and was con-
structed largely as a sample. The car
has a capacity of 100000 pounds. Tt is
40 feet long over it's sill ends and eight
feet ten and one-half inches wide over
the side sills. The height inside is
to carry full capacity of the lighter
grains-ccrn, rye and barley. The
weight is but IS, $50 pounds, while the
wooden car of the same size weighs
AZ. 200 pounds. 1t is hoped to further
reduce the weight.
There is only one center sill, which.
is made of 15-inch 42-pound, 1-beam,
and this extends II inches beyond the
center of the body bolster. At this
point 12-inch, 201a-pound channels are
riveted to the web of the center sill
and they extend out, forming the draft
timbers and are spaced 12B inches
apart back to back of the channels.
The end sill is an S-fnch liz pound
channel and to this is riveted a steel
casing which supports the outer emu
of the coupler.
The new box car weighs about IL
per cent less than the standard box
ear now used on the Hartman lines,
but the two cars have practically the
same dimensions, the difference in
cubic capacity being only about so feet.
This saving of weight is accomplished
largely by the using of only one CEN
ter sill and designing the side frames
as efficient plate girders of consider
able length.
The body framing of the wooden car
has already been more or less OF
failure as a truss to carry that part
of the load between holsters. The COM
bination of green timber and imperfect
fitting usually results in a side frame
which carries little or none OF the LOAD
after a few months of servlce. out the
steel car, the sides having all the mem
hers rigidly attached to each other,
supports a great deal of the load Whlch
would otherwise be carried py the
longitudinal stills.
One or two other roads Wh1ch nave
heen experimenting with the steel box
car have instructed their motive pow
or officials to watch carefully the ex-
periments with the new car pullt py
the Union Pacific, and upon the resulI
of these Investigations will depend
largely what action is to be taken py
the various roads in construction OF the
new class of equipment.
The new box car is considered by
motive power eXperts ds llio -
development of the steel car ana they
think it strange that the experiment OF
building a box car with steel BODY
bes NOT been tried before. for it is only
a short step from the high steel gon-
doIa, to the box car. Some ofnclals
80 not thought it important that the
steel construction should be carried
sboye the underframe, but they now
~ea1ize that this can be done to good
advantage. - :. ,,,,1
railroad officials realize that 1t VIII
oos+ more to repair the steel cars than
the present equipment, but they figure
that repairs will not be required near
ly so often.