Making The Big Move

Oversize shipments--like a strange looking 67-foot black tank with eight stubby arms-startle those who see them roll by.

But Southern's Engineering and Transportation people take high/wide/heavy shipments in stride. Not much amazes or baffles them.

"As soon as we get an unusual request from a shipper," explained Charlie Smoot, transportation assistant in Atlanta, "we figure out if it's in the realm of possibility. The shipper usually gives us an estimate on what it's worth dollar-wise for him to move his load. He'll tell us if he's willing to spend millions, hundreds of thousands or thousands of dollars to make whatever railroad arrangements are necessary. Obviously, he's not going to want to spend $100,000 to have a new bridge built if his shipment is worth $500.

"After we have a ballpark figure, we run a feasibility study to see if we can do it and save the shipper some money. Obviously, he'll be checking out other modes of transportation, too. But we have enough lead time--we're working on a movement scheduled for 1978 now--to study the problem from every angle. And the shipper has to decide early how he's going to move it, because that may affect his shipment's size or shape."

One of Transportation's most recent assignments was to move a 350-ton nuclear reactor vessel from CharIeston, S. C., to Charlotte, N. C.. for Westinghouse Corporation. Vital statistics for the load: 22 1/4 feet wide, 21 1/2 feet above the rail, 1,367,500 pounds including both vessel and rail car.

Was it possible? Yes, but it took a lot of doing, explained Phil Sarris, former assistant engineer in the bridge office clearance section in Atlanta. (He was recently promoted to assistant chief engineer, design and construction.)

"One of the clearance section's responsibilities." said Phil, "is to keep up information on all obstructions along the lines. We have data – all in the computer – on lateral and overhead obstructions. Restrictions applicable from the wide shipments are generated from the computer, but because of the extreme width of the reactor vessel, we had to make a field survey to supplement the computer data. We also had to consider what effect this heavy shipment would have on our bridges, and strengthen those that require it."

Four years ago, the project started. And it was Phil's baby all along the way. He met with representatives from Westinghouse, suggested the most feasible route, explained the needed changes, followed through on the clearances and ran over the track in a mock-up two weeks before it was shipped to check it all out.

Phil and his crew road in the M-19 motor car, surrounded by a huge aluminum frame the same dimensions as the reactor component. They followed the prescribed route on Southern, then the link-up on Seaboard Coast Line. They were happy to find that ail major obstructions had been removed, and just a few minor ones remained.

The super shipment rode a 22-axle Schnabel car owned by Westinghouse. Adjustable for most any size load, the car is equipped with hydraulic devices to move it vertically or horizontally. The reactor had to be raised or shifted six times during the journey to clear obstructions, including a nine-inch rise to clear the Blackville, S. C., police station. In addition, Southern had to lower tracks under three overhead bridges, build a new connection track and move 65 signals and numerous other obstructions to allow passage.

The four-car train -- locomotive, caboose, vessel car, caboose -- moved from the Charleston port via BranchviIle, Blackville, Columbia, Chester and Rock Hill to Charlotte in three days. (Regular freight, routed more directly through Columbia, makes the trip in a half day.) Seaboard moved it on to its final destination, the Duke Power Company nuclear power plant under construction at Cowans Ford, N.C.

Many more shipments of Westinghouse reactor components, including three more to Duke, are scheduled. Those will involve a minimum of adjustments because most of the changes made along the route were permanent.

"That's, of course, the cheapest way," explained Charlie. "No need to go to additional expense of moving everything back, especially when more shipments are coming. That's one of the advantages of going by rail, because after the initial right-of-way changes are made, repetitive costs are relative low."

But new loads will bring new challenges to the department. And anytime loads get wider than 11 feet, longest than one car length, or heavier than 100 tons, they have to be check out. Though the constitute only one-half of one percent of Southern's total freight, they're a big part of it.