CP: High-capacity box cars paying dividends for paper shippers (7/31/2003)
7/31/2022Canadian Pacific Railway's new fleet of 625 high-capacity box cars is pleasing paper customers. The railroad recently replaced 800 older box cars with the new cars, which have 25 percent more capacity.
The cars include damage-prevention features, such as longer end-of-car cushioning devices, and an improved wheel assembly designed to minimize lateral and vertical forces during transit.
"We have built a car that has the features shippers and receivers said are most important to them," said Jim Buggs, CPR general manager of car management in a prepared statement.
Those features include reliable service and damage-free delivery — damaged paper rolls can delay newsprint companies' press production.
An official at The Washington Post Co. — which needs 195,000 tons of newsprint annually to print its newspaper — has noticed that paper breaks on presses are at an all-time low.
"What we're seeing in paper-roll quality off the new cars is unsurpassed and what we're seeing on the press is proof of it," said Rex Potts, Washington Post newsprint manager.
Even a small flat spot can cause press problems for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which runs presses at 62,000 copies per hour using 50-inch rolls.
"We have not had a rail-related pressroom problem since making the switch to CPR's big box cars, nor have we seen a load shift," said Manager of Newsprint Receiving Carl Orzech.
Source: Progressive Railroading Daily News