What was the earliest kind of double stack well car to be seen adn when did it appear?
Wiki gives the first dedicated intermodal double stack (which by necessity of clearence means well cars) as 1977, which is consistent with other sources I’ve seen. There was no image on that link, but I believe the earlier well cars had massive bulkheads at each end.
Edit: I added the qualifier to eliminate earlier non-intermodal well flat-cars which have been around for a century, or custom half-height containers in gondolas etc.
Hello “BNSF,”
The earliest well cars for containers were the Southern Pacific Double-Stacks. ACF built an experimental stand-alone car for the SP in 1977, then a three-unit articulated car. In 1981, the SP purchased 41 ACF-built 5-unit articulated Double-Stack cars and placed them in regular service for Sea Land between Houston and Los Angeles. They were distinguished from later well cars by having large triangular end bulkheads, and they stood out because they were painted bright orange.
Drawings of the five-unit car, and a scratchbuilding article for an HO model by Cyril Durrenberger, appeared in the October 1983 Model Railroader. (Copies of drawings and articles from out-of-print back issues may be purchased on this website.)
Have a good weekend,
Andy
Hey, Thanks Andy!!!
I wish I knew a thenth of what you must know… Ha hah.
I often ‘watch’ posts like this, hoping to learn & improve my knowledge, rather than just replying with a ‘fluff’ comment like; “I would like to know that too”
Thanks for monitoring & chipping in with excellent information, I know we all appriciate it greatly.
Have a good weekend!
The first ACF well car looked like a stand alone unit from an Intermountain Gunderson Twin Stack set. The prototype unit was brought to the Tech Center in St Charles, MO and all employees were brought out of the offices that afternoon to see the future of intermodal shipping.
Conventional wisdom at that time said the bukheads were needed to restrain the upper container from becoming a free agent, so to speak, at the elevated train speeds.
In the F89 days with non-HC containers, before locking container pedestals were mandated, incidences of empty containers, in particular the 20-foot ones, lifting off the deck and wreaking havoc were not unheard of.