24 BULLETIN 978, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



192.. 



Name of City. Date. 



This is to certify that the hay contained in car 



No was weighed this day by and the 



correct weight was found to be as follows: 



Whole bales: Gross lbs. Tare. '. lbs. Net lbs. 



Number. 



Broken bales: " lbs. " lbs. " lbs. 



Number. 



Loose hay: " lbs. " lbs. " lbs. 



Total net weight lbs. 



Size of bales Car weighed in draughts. 



Condition of car was as follows 



Official record No 



Chief Weighmaster . 



Official seal ( ). 



Deputy Weighmaster. 



Last date on which scales were officially tested 



Fig. 7. — Form of official certificate which will provide necessary information upon which to base a claim 



for loss in weight. 



WEIGHING ON RAILROAD TRACK SCALES. 



There are no data available relative to the amount of hay weighed 

 on railroad track scales, but such weights are used in some territories 

 to a considerable extent. Railroads weigh shipments over their lines 

 in order that proper freight charges may be assessed. 



These track scales are maintained at convenient points which are 

 designated as track scale stations and cars to be weighed are switched 

 over the scales at these points and the weights obtained. 



OBTAINING THE WEIGHT. 



Methods of weighing the gross and tare differ slightly at different 

 scales. The usual practice is to pull or push a train of several cars 

 over the scales and to stop, as each car comes onto the scale, a suffi- 

 cient length of time for the weigher to obtain the weight of the 

 car. The car is sometimes uncoupled from the other cars at both 

 ends, sometimes at only one end, but the most common practice is to 

 stop the car on the scale with the slack taken up so that the coupling 

 at either end does not bind with the couplings of the cars attached. 



It is claimed that when the couplings do not bind cars can be 

 weighed accurately by this method. The difficulty is that it is fre- 

 quently impossible to stop cars so that couplings will be entirely free 

 from the influence of the cars attached to them. There is also the 

 danger during the rush of weighing that the car will not be brought 



