Abnormal load logistics specialist ALS has completed a 20-month project to deliver a total of 1 185 wagons of three types from The Greenbrier Companies’ Wagon Świdnica factory in Poland to Saudi Railway Co.

The wagons are 14·35 m long, 3 200 mm wide and 4 500 mm high and weigh 30 tonnes. They are built to North American standards, which meant special permission and some modifications were needed before they could be moved on the Polish rail network.

The design makes them unsuitable for lifting by crane, and so a ramp and specially prepared roll trailers with embedded rails were used to load them into a ship at the port of Gdańsk. Protective material was used to shield some components from sand and extreme temperatures in Saudi Arabia.

On arrival at the Saudi port of Damman the wagons were loaded onto road trailers by winch, for transport to their final destination by ALS subcontractor ALE. On arrival the wagons were off-loaded via a ramp directly onto the track.