CN’s Largest Single OOG Load Begins Journey

Canadian National Railway is moving the largest single out-of-gauge load ever handled in the history of the company, a 635-metric-ton reactor, from Ontario, Canada to Kansas.

The reactor, used for gas desulphurization, measures about 131 feet long, 14 feet wide and 21 feet high. It was loaded aboard a 231-foot Schnabel CEBX 800 railcar, known for its ability to coast at low speeds and move both laterally and vertically, a critical requirement for a load of this size and weight.
CN had to upgrade the track to accommodate the shipment, according to a CN official.

After more than a year of planning, the reactor began its journey in Oakville, Ontario late last month and will arrive on site at Frontier Refinery in Eldorado, Kansas, in mid-September.

Accompanying photographs courtesy of Frontier Refining