Modern Woodchip Cars

[ENR3005]

I thought I would provide a link for this video of something that is pretty rare these days, a solid unit train of woodchip gondolas only, 45 cars to be exact. Even in the forest rich Pacific Northwest where I reside, this is quickly becoming a thing of the past buts still happens in some parts on a very regular basis. Local Canadian shortline New Brunswick Southern Railway has a dedicated woodchip train that runs to a paper mill in Saint John New Brunswick where the cars are unloaded with a railcar digger, not a rotary or end dumper like most mills use. This operation has actually grown in the last three years with a multi billion dollar rebuilding of the mill which was only completed last year. What is interesting about this video is the variation of woodchip cars used, many are old former BC Rail and CN Rail car along with some very interesting miscellaneous owners who have created completely new woodchip cars by rebuilding former bulkhead flatcars and in one case a former centerbeam flatcar (75'5") with new panels. The rebuilt centerbeam (at 1:33 in the video) has a massive capacity of 8400 cubic feet of woodchips or almost a 1/3 more than the large former CN and BC Rail cars. Great ideas here for anyone creating a more modern route with a pulp or paper mill.

Unit Train Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GZY1nN0iNE

Unloading Operation At Mill.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_Ck2SYVJiU

[cnwfan]

Thank you for sharing. Those repurposed flatcars to woodchip cars are a cool idea. I'm surprised a rotary dump isn't used to unload those cars. Seems laborious to use a clamshell on a stuffed and mounted backhoe. Although the operator does have a great view.