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Pre-"Double Stack" Intermodal Era
A discussion of the pre stack era intermodal railcar fleet including characteristics, loading capabilities and tare weight ratios and train length ratios. Conventional and spine car types. Characteristics include railcar tare weight, length, deck type, guide rail type, hitch type and bridgeplate type. Loading capabilities for trailer and container lengths and widths. Capability for Current modern equipment and tare weight and train length ratios per unit.
John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library
draggable directories
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- Converted Boxcar "Lead Sled" NS Container on Belly
- A boxcar converted to Intermodal Service know as "lead sleds" due to their heavy tare weight. NS car carrying a container on its belly. Some railroads converted boxcars in times of severe car shortages must to the chagrin of other railroads that understood the economics.
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- NS Lead Sled carrying an Evergreen 40' international container on a Chassis
- A boxcar converted to Intermodal Service known as "lead sleds" due to their heavy tare weight. NS car carrying an Evergreen 40' international container on a chassis. Before stacks American Honda would require its parts containers going to inland assembly plants move on chassis for better ride quality.
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- RTTX Intermodal Flatcar carrying 3 20' International Containers on Chassis
- RTTX Intermodal flatcar carrying 3 20' international containers on chassis. Two Crowley and one TransAmerica containers. Vehicle manufacturers required that parts must move on chassis for better ride quality.
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- SOO 89' Conventional Intermodal Flatcar with one 20' and one 40' Container on Bellies
- SOO Line conventional 89' intermodal flatcar carrying one NOL, Neptune Orient Line, 20' international container and one 40' TransAmerica international container on their bellies. SOO Line is owned by CPKC now. NOL in 1984 was a small Singapore ocean carrier that bought APL, American President Lines.
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- SPRR Twin 45' Intermodal Flatcar with SPRR Golden Pig 45' Trailers
- SPRR 45' Golden Pig Trailers on SPRR Twin 45' Intermodal Flatcar
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- TTAX 53' Spine car with 40' International Containers on Bellies
- TTAX 53' all purpose spine car carrying 40' international containers on bellies including a Maersk container.
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- TTCX 60' Conventional Container Only Flatcar Carrying one 20' and one 40' International Containers on Bellies
- TTCX 60' Conventional Container Only Flatcar Carrying one 20' and one 40' International Containers on Bellies. One container is a TransAmerica container.
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- TTEX conventional intermodal flatcar carrying 3 40' International Containers on Chassis
- TTEX conventional intermodal flatcar carrying 3 40' International Containers on Chassis. APL 40' International Container on chassis. An unproductive use of TTEX railcars meant for long trailers. Early days of double stack container cars where there was not enough capacity for international containers.
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- TTEX conventional intermodal flatcar carrying 3 45' trailers
- TTEX conventional intermodal flatcar carrying 3 45' trailers. The TTEX cars consist of two 89' flatcars connected with a drawbar. One trailer on each railcar with one trailer spanning the drawbar. Intended to carry 3 long trailers. A better alternative to carrying only one long trailer per 89' railcar.
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- TTLX 5 unit Spine 48' Railcar Carrying an XTRA 48' Trailer
- TTLX 5 unit Spine 48' Railcar Carrying an XTRA 48' Trailer. Obsoleted out of fleet due to inability to Handle 53' trailers and 53' dominos.
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- TTWX 89'4" conventional intermodal flatcar carrying 20' international containers on bellies
- TTWX conventional trailer/container intermodal flatcar with international containers on bellies. 20’ NOL and 20’ Zim.
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- TTWX with international containers on bellies
- TTWX 89' all purpose trailer and container railcar with international containers on bellies. 20’ NOL and 40’ Genstar.
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- TTWX with international containers on bellies. 2 APL 20' and one 40’ Mason
- TTWX 89'4" intermodal flatcar with two 20' APL containers on bellies and one 40' Matson container on belly.
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- Table 1 Pre Stack Intermodal Railcar Fleet Characteristics
- Table 1 shows the pre double stack intermodal railcar fleet by car type with tare weight, length, Deck type, Guide Rail type, Bridgeplate type and Hitch type.
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- Table 2 shows the pre double stack intermodal railcar fleet loading capability by car type
- Table 2 shows the pre double stack intermodal railcar fleet loading capability by car type. Namely, the loading capability for trailers and containers by length and width. Trailer capability for 28', 40', 45', 48' and 53' trailers. Container capability for 20', 40', 45', 48' and 53' containers. Trailer and container width for 96" and 102".
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- Table 2 shows the pre double stack intermodal railcar fleet loading capability by car type. Namely, the loading capability for t
- Table 2 shows the pre double stack intermodal railcar fleet loading capability by car type. Namely, the loading capability for trailers and containers by length and width. Trailer capability for 28', 40', 45', 48' and 53' trailers. Container capability for 20', 40', 45', 48' and 53' containers. Trailer and container width for 96" and 102".
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- Table 3 Pre Stack Intermodal Railcar Fleet Key Equipment Capability, Tare Weight and Train Length Ratios
- Table 3 shows the pre double stack intermodal railcar fleet capabilities for current dominant equipment including 40' international containers, 53’domcons and 53’ trailers and their tare weight and train length ratios per unit. Conventional Intermodal railcars consist of the mainstay of the fleet at the time, the 89' and 89'4" flatcars with the old technology at the time of shorter cars like the 85' cars that were made for Twin 35' trailers when they were longest trailers permitted on the highways. The Spine cars are Skeleton cars for trailers but eventually some were container only and some were trailer or container cars. When double stack container cars were introduced the conventional car comparison was the TTAX/TTTWX type 89'4" flatcar that could carry 2 40' international containers.
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- The Intermodal Railcar Fleet prior to the Double Stack Revolution
- The Intermodal Railcar Fleet prior to the Double Stack Revolution.A comparison of the Intermodal fleet in 1988 compared to 2024 shows the impact of the double stack container car revolution. In 1988 conventional cars (AAR code P) represented 89% of the fleet whereas in 2024 they represented less than one half of one percent of the fleet. In 1988 the nascent double stack container car (AAR code S) represented 6% of the fleet whereas in 2024 they represented 93.5% of the fleet. Only spine cars (AAR code Q) remained stable over the last 40 years with 5% of the fleet in 1988 and 6% of the fleet in 2024, only because of Premium Trailer Service., An in-depth discussion of the intermodal railcar types prior to the double stack container car revolution
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- VTTX 60' Conventional Container Only Flatcar Carrying one Hanjin 20' and one Genstar 40' International Containers on Bellies
- VTTX 60' Conventional Container Only Flatcar Carrying one Hanjin 20' and one Genstar 40' International Containers on Bellies
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