[1] The largest Schnabel car in public railroads operation, reporting number WECX 801, was completed in 2012 by Kasgro Railcar for Westinghouse Nuclear and is used in North America primarily to transport reactor containment vessels.
[1] The second largest Schnabel car in service, owned by ABB, bears the CEBX 800 registration, and is used in North America.
[3] The word Schnabel is from German Tragschnabelwagen, meaning "carrying-beak-wagon", because of the usually tapered shape of the lifting arms, resembling a bird's beak.
These were self-propelled with a continuous-track suspension chassis of substantial length to maneuver into a firing position over a short range, but depended on a pair of purpose-designed Schnabel cars for long-range transport by rail.
[4] The same system was also used at the same time for the rail transport of the French FCM 2C super-heavy armoured fighting vehicle.