Flatcar and centerbeam
A flatcar is a deck on trucks. A centerbeam is a flatcar with a tall spine for packaged lumber.
The deck
A flatcar is a deck, with or without bulkheads at the ends. Machinery, transformers, pipe, and other loads that don't fit in a box ride here, chained and blocked to the deck. The type letter is F. An older plain flat is often marked FM. A bulkhead flat has tall ends to keep a load such as pipe from shifting off the deck.
Depressed-center flats dip between the trucks so a tall piece can sit lower. Intermodal flats, for trailers and containers, are a related family. A well car is the one with a tub between the trucks, and it has its own page.
The centerbeam
A centerbeam is a flatcar with a tall truss down the middle and bulkheads at the ends. Packaged lumber rides on both sides of the truss, held in by cables. From the end you see the bulkhead. From the side, once the lumber is unloaded, you see the open truss.
It is still a flatcar family car. The load is the clue when the car is full, and the truss is the clue when it is empty. Don't call it a boxcar because a loaded one looks like a solid wall of wood.
Common questions
- What is a centerbeam car for?
- Packaged lumber. The lumber sits on either side of a center truss and is cabled in place.
- Is a bulkhead flat the same as a centerbeam?
- No. A bulkhead flat has tall ends and an open deck. A centerbeam adds the tall truss between those ends.