Flat Cars

In the initial days of railroading, the first freight car was the flat car. It was nothing more than a platform with wheels and was used to move anything and everything. Flat cars today are much more sophisticated and come in an amazing variety of shapes and purposes. They include drop center, centerbeams, bulkheads and intermodal flatcars such as spine and well cars. Early in the 1950s, piggybacking (truck trailers on flat cars) got its start and today is a major player in railroad freight. To reduce the overall weight pulled by locomotives, minimal spine cars (simply a steal beam on wheels) were built to carry several truck trailers. Well cars carry a double height stack of containers (basically trailers without wheels) by dropping a container down into a welled flat car.

The Alaska Railroad uses various types of flat cars for hauling products as well as for Maintenance of Way (MOW) service. Shown are several of the basic types. Click here for roster information.

Also, check out the information on centerbeam flatcars and articulated flats.

Click on the pictures below for a larger view.

This HD flat is used by the ARR for heavy lifts when a depressed center is not required. Most often these cars are seen with a load of tie plates, spikes, or joiners.

These are examples of the ARR log flats. Flats from three different builders are used for this service. These cars are used for hauling logs between Nenana and Seward and also for pipe between Seward and Whittier and Fairbanks. The pipe comes in on a ship to Whittier or Seward and goes to oil companies in Fairbanks who then truck it to the north slope.

This is a depressed flat car. No, it is just as happy as the rest of the freight cars. It is called depressed because it has a drop center. Flats like this are used to transport bulldozers and similar equipment. Since no loading ramp is required, the railroad can stop any place up and down the line and load/offload equipment. This permits express delivery of the equipment to slides and/or derailments to get the line open quickly. 3/99

This is a double piggie, trucks on top of a flat on top of a flat car.

Now here is something you don't see every day. This flat is hauling fishing boats to Whittier. 3/99

89 foot flatcars in the Fairbanks yard. June 2007

Also see 1960 ad for Thrall flat cars

Thanks to Ed Alford and Casey Durand for providing this information