RE: (erielack) yellow stripe/DF, was EL 2007 calendar - descripti on and review

["Schuyler Larrabee" <schuyler.larrabee_@_verizon.net>]

> The bulkheads would keep cargo from shifting, but wouldn't 
> absorb the G-force effects of a slam-bang coupling, hence the 
> cushioned underframes. I wonder if once these underframes 
> were in use, the job of a DF loader became moot? You never 
> see "DF" cars anymore, do ya?
> 	- Paul

I think I've seen some recently, but they might be older cars that are "left over" from earlier
times.

But I doubt that the use of cushion underframes obviated the need for load restraints.  I've seen
some pretty aggressive switching done with cushion-underframe cars, which is kind of weird to watch,
as the "loose" end of the string  

s t r e t c h e s   W   A   Y    o     u     t

 and then the elasticity pulls it back in toward the locomotive.  But the momentum applied to the
load would still be working on the load inside, and if it were a bunch of cartons stacked up, then
they'd be all over the floor.

BTW, Paul B, the underframe is cushioned, not the couplers, at least, as far as I know.

SGL


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