Southern Carries Heaviest single Carload

The heaviest single carload ever recorded on any U.S. railroad traveled over the Southern Railway on October 11, when a huge 22-axle flatcar carrying an 830,000 pound turbine generator left Cincinnati, Ohio, en route to Stilesboro, GA. Total weight of the turbine and the special flat car was 1,432,000 or 716 tons. Built by Westinghouse Electric Co, Pittsburgh, PA, and destined for a plant of the Georgia Power Company now under construction at Stilesboro, the turbine generator traveled in its own special train made up of a locomotive, spare parts car, two empty cars (for flexibility, and a caboose. When loaded, the turbine generator towered 17 feet 5 inches above the rails, was 175 feet 2 inches long, and measured 13 feet, 9 inches wide. Because of the height and length of the turbine generator, its unusual flat car raised or lowered the rear end of the load to compensate for terrain unevenness when moving under bridges and overpasses. The load was also moved from side to side to permit easier clearances through tight curves, narrow cuts, and other areas of close tolerance. The turbine generator was delivered to Southern at Cincinnati, by the Penn Central. It ran over Southern from Cincinnati to Chattanooga, TN, where it was delivered to the Louisville & Nashville. The seaboard Coast Line took delivery from the L&N at Cartersville, GA, for the final movement to Stilesboro.