Schnabel car
The largest Schnabel car in public railroads operation, reporting number WECX 801, was completed in 2012 by Kasgro Railcar for Westinghouse Nuclear and is used in North America primarily to transport reactor containment vessels. It has 36 axles (18 for each half). Each half contains nine trucks which are connected by a complex system of span bolsters. Its tare (unloaded) weight is and has a load limit of for a maximum gross weight of . WECX 801 has the ability to shift its load vertically and up to laterally on either side of the car's center line. When empty, this car measures long; for comparison, a conventional boxcar currently operating on North American railroads has a single two-axle truck at each end of the car, measures long and has a capacity of . The train's speed is limited to when WECX 801 is empty, but only when loaded and requires a crew of six operators in addition to the train's crew. The second largest Schnabel car in service, owned by ABB, bears the CEBX 800 registration, and is used in North America. Built by Krupp AG, it has 36 axles (18 for each half). Each half has 9 bogies linked together by a complex system of span bolsters. Its tare weight (empty mass) is . When empty, this wagon is long. It can carry a load of long and . By comparison, a classic boxcar has only one bogie with two axles at each end, is about long and carries a load that does not exceed . The word "Schnabel" is from German , meaning "carrying-beak-wagon", because of the usually tapered shape of the lifting arms, resembling a bird's beak. In World War II the German used Schnabel cars for transporting the heavy-calibre (54 cm and 60 cm calibre) siege mortars. These were self-propelled with a continuous-track suspension chassis of substantial length to maneuver into a firing position over a short range, but depended on a pair of purpose-designed Schnabel cars for long-range transport by rail. The same system was also used at the same time for the rail transport of the French FCM 2C super-heavy armoured fighting vehicle. In the United States, the first Schnabel car, WECX 200, was built for Westinghouse Nuclear by manufacturer Greenville Steel Car in the 1960s. The Schnabel design was covered under US patent #US 4041879A The Class Uaai low-loading wagon with special equipment is marketed Europe-wide exclusively by the heavy load department, "Heavy Cargo + Service", of Nuclear Cargo + Service.
Design
When a Schnabel car is empty, the two lifting arms are connected to one another and the car can usually operate at normal freight train speeds. As of 2012, there were 31 Schnabel cars operating in Europe, 30 in North America, 25 in Asia, and one in Australia.