2704 Chapter 22 



RAILCAR FLOORING^* 



The same process used to make truck trailer flooring is employed to produce 

 laminated oak railcar flooring (fig. 22-65 bottom) except that this flooring is 

 crosscut to an average length of 9 feet 2 inches, the width of the freight car. 

 Three-ply vertically laminated southern pine is also used for railcar flooring. 



Requirements for railcar flooring are basically the same as for truck trailer 

 floors, but weight-to-strength ratios are less critical. Railcars and railroads are 

 designed for load carrying, and pay loads are little affected by dead weight. 

 Although heavier railcars increase energy requirements, these costs have been 

 considered insignificant. 



An additional concern in railcar flooring is combustibility. Noncombustible 

 materials are preferred to reduce damage from fires started by hot boxes or 

 sparks from cast iron brake shoes. Wood flooring treated with fire-retardant 

 chemicals reduces the probability of fire damage, but treatment increases cost of 

 railcar manufacture. 



Because the life of a freight car is specified to be 40 years, wood flooring in 

 such cards must be completely replaced at least twice during the life of the car, 

 since its life is usually 10 to 15 years. 



Fergus et al. (1977) concluded that although laminated wood flooring has 

 long been standard, nailable steel may the primary railcar flooring in the future. 

 This trend, however, may be blunted by the reported'^ favorable comparative 

 performance of laminated wood flooring. Current trends show rapidly decreas- 

 ing use of wood in new railcars except for specialty cars such as coin-steel cars or 

 in captive operations where the high cost of replacing wood floors over the life of 

 a railcar can be absorbed by the parent company. Some laminated wood flooring 

 will continue to be used for replacement of existing wood floors, but Fergus et 

 al. predict that by the year 2000, or soon thereafter, this market will be almost 

 entirely eliminated by the use of nailable steel. 



The major reasons cited for preferring nailable steel to wood-base flooring 

 products are: 



• No break-through of forklifts and heavy loads. 



• No damage from repeated nailing. 



• No decay. 



• No splintering or roughening from abrasive freight, pinch bars, or han- 

 dling equipment. 



• Stronger car all around as it acts as a structural part of the car. 



• No fear or damage from hot box fires if equipped with friction bearings. 



• No contamination from previous loading, although caulking material 

 may absorb flour, sand or other materials. 



• No fear of fire from sparks caused by cars having wood flooring and cast 

 iron brake shoes. 



'^ext under this heading is condensed from Fergus et al. (1977). 



'^Nemeth, L. F. 1976. Performance of a laminated wood and heavy duty nailable steel boxcar 

 floor deck. Wood products. R&D Dept. Potlatch Corp. Reported at Ann. Meet., For. Prod. Res. 

 Soc, July. 



