STANDARDISATION OF WAGONS. ECONOMIC COMPARISON OF WAGON WALLS COVERED WITH SPECIALLY TREATED BOARDS OR SOLID PANELS

Study of the economic merits of a possible replacement of the generally used wall-covering of boards for covered wagons by a covering of plywood panels. At the request of the 5th Commission of the UIC, ORE charged the B 12 Specialists Committee with the establishment of an economic comparison between covered wagons with wall- covering forms of boards or of panels. Such an economic balance-sheet had already been established by the DB in the course of 1958. At the request of the Paris Design Office of the SNCF, the Minden Design Office of the DB confirmed that the previously established report was still valid. Balance-sheet No. 1 shows that the increased costs resulting from the application of plywood panels in the place of the generally used boards is redeemed at the end of: 15 years if, during the general overhaul of the G 5 type, all the panels are replaced by new panels, and 10-1/2 years if recovered and repaired panels are used. The SNCF, which tested the plywood-panel covering on only 10 wagons, held the opinion in 1959, that the redemption of this increase could be realised within a period of 6 years. Between 1959 and 1962 it extended its tests to cover 250, then 1,250 wagons (at present, the SNCF possesses 8,300 wagons so equipped) and it has found the maintenance costs of the panelling to be higher than those originally foreseen. An enquiry resumed in 1962 shows that the redemption of the additional cost is realised at the end of 9 years (see balance-sheet No. 2). These results, which only differ very slightly from those found by the DB, confirm the economic merits of the replacement of the generally used wall-covering of boards for covered vans by a covering of plywood panels, when solely considered from the point of view of wagon construction and maintenance i.e. when special considerations relative to the suitability of the wagon stock for certain transports e.g. live-stock and early vegetables, are not to be taken into consideration.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Restrictions on the use of this document are contained in the explanatory material.
• Corporate Authors:

  International Union of Railways

  Office of Research and Experiments
  Utrecht,   Netherlands 
• Publication Date: 1964-10

Media Info

• Features: Appendices;
• Pagination: 12 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Costs; Economics; Freight cars; Standardization; Vehicle design
• Identifier Terms: Deutsche Bahn; Deutsche Bundesbahn; Societe nationale des chemins de fer francais
• Old TRIS Terms: Car linings; Freight car costs; Freight car design; Question b12
• Subject Areas: Design; Economics; Finance; Railroads;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00052976
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: International Union of Railways
• Report/Paper Numbers: B12/RP 11/E Intrm Rpt.
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 8 1994 12:00AM