Equipment Information

C&WI 1772 is a railroad flat car assigned for use with a crane, in this case ComEd 19. Flat cars used for this purpose were known as “idlers” because they didn’t carry anything but simply “sat idle.” The idler’s purpose is to provide a buffer underneath the boom of the crane so that the crane could be hauled from either direction.

Car 1772 is unusual in that it was originally built in 1925 not as a flat car, but as a automobile boxcar. It was constructed by American Car & Foundry for the Wabash Railroad as a 22000-series double-sheathed wooden automobile boxcar. In 1940, the Wabash heavily rebuilt it as a steel-sheathed boxcar numbered 83257. Later still, likely in the 1960s, the car was sold to the C&WI, which cut its body down to floor level and made it into an idler. It was retired in 1984.

Builder: C&WI
Year Built: 1940
Length: 44ft 10in
Width: 9ft 10in
Height: 6ft 4in
Weight: 31900 lbs
Brakes: AB
Trucks: American Steel Foundry
Description: Idler Flat for Commonwealth Edison 19 / Ex Wabash 83257
Arrived: 1984
Condition: Complete / unrestored / operational

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