I’ve finally got doublestack cars and containers for my new N scale collection, and thus I have some questions:
Are the containers always oriented a certain way (i.e. front forward or end (door side) forward)? If so, are they uniform for the car/multiple unit set or the entire train?
I understand that overseas containers are primarily 40’ and domestic containers are primarily 48’ and 53’. On double stack cars that have the longer domestic containers above (or below) the 40’ ones, is there a system by which they are usually arranged? Or is domestic nearly always stacked over domestic and overseas nearly always stacked over overseas?
When a train is hauling overseas containers across the US, does the entire train reflect the entire contents of the ship that carried the containers to the American port, or do the ship containers usually get divided over various cars, trains and railroads?
Ultimately, what criteria goes into how containers are arranged in a train? Is it requested by the shipping line, or does the railroad fit whatever it could in the railcars that are available?
I have more questions, but if there’s a website somewhere that explains the systematics of container placement that would greatly help.
Front and back orientation isn’t necessary, it is usually just the way the container is picked up and loaded onto the car.
It would depend on the design of the car. If the container well is designed for a 40 foot container (max size), a 40 foot one would be on the bottom and the longer one can be stacked on top. The stacking posts (where the IBC’s connect) have to line up. If the well is designed for a longer container, it can be on the bottom and the same size or shorter (down to 40 foot) can be on top. Some wells are designed for 2 of the 20 foot containers, and these would be on the bottom only in this well. You’d never find 2 of the 20 foot contai
In my experience, box containers have doors at both ends.
Size, not origin, determines how containers are loaded. Looking at the container car, the lower level (“well”) will hold either one 40’ container or two 20’ containers. The stacked container can be any length 40’ or above, but will have lock fittings spaced at 40 feet. 20 foot containers are not allowed on top of longer containers since there’s no way to lock both ends.
One container ship will offload several thousand containers. One stack train can carry ±200 containers. Also, the ship will have containers for many different destinations. The railroads prefer to load a solid train to a single destination. The necessary sorting is done between the dockside and the railroad loading sidings, in that big paved area - the one filled with containers, cranes and moving container carriers.
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4) Ultimately, what criteria goes into how containers are arranged in a train? Is it requested by the shipping line, or does the railroad fit whatever it could in the railc
Usually, the longer containers are stacked over the shorter ones.
Containers are ultimately arranged into destination blocks. Contrary to what has been posted here, intermodal trains do indeed pick up and drop off enroute. The cars themselves are rarely switched though, with most destination blocking occuring during the loading process.
In my experience, box containers have doors at both ends.
Size, not origin, determines how containers are loaded. Looking at the container car, the lower level (“well”) will hold either one 40’ container or two 20’ containers. The stacked container can be any length 40’ or above, but will have lock fittings spaced at 40 feet. 20 foot containers are not allowed on top of longer containers since there’s no way to lock both ends.
One container ship will offload several thousand containers. One stack train can carry ±200 containers. Also, the ship will have containers for many different destinations. The railroads prefer to load a solid train to a single destination. The necessary sorting is done between the dockside and the railroad loading sidings, in that big paved area - the one filled with containers, cranes and moving container carriers.
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4) Ultimately, what criteria goes into how containers are arranged in a train? Is it requested by the shipping line, or does the railroad fit whate
I understand the Europe-to-Asia (and vice versa) “land bridge” trains do not make stops but obviously those carrying domestic loads do. So does that mean a stack train passes through an Intermodal facility, and the appropriate containers get unloaded and re-loaded, and if not then the “empties” are either switched off the train or moved to the back?
Also, is it common for containers to be moved from well to well or car to car on the same train? Or do they stay put for the entire journey?
They would set the box on the train once and take it off once. Once it gets off the train, it becomes either a ship or truck problem.
No they dont have doors on both ends… no no no! I spent some time running boxes in the NE ports by the dozen and never SAW any double ended door boxes. If they did make one, I dont think they can withstand the lift because weights inside the box can be quite heavy.
Shipping is looking into Ultra Large Carriers where very large tonnage will be carried. I think 12,000 containers or more at once on one vessal soon in the future.
Nick is right. To add to his comments, “land-bridge” does not mean the containers move across North America and resume their journey on a ship! It means they move to their final destination in part on land, even when they could move most of the journey on water. For example, a container moving from Shanghai to Baltimore could move all-water, via either the Panama or Suez canals, or it can move land-bridge, by water from Shanghai to a West Coast port such as Long Beach, and the rest of the way by land. 99.999% of the so-called land-bridge containers terminate their journey in the U.S. Land-bridge is an unfortunate term that has led many people to assume that the container is crossing both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans in the course of a single journey, but that is exceedingly rare.
Many container trains are at least block-swapped en route. Containers that pass through Chicago are mostly “rubbered” across Chicago in order to sort them to the proper railroad and proper train, and even the containers that are steel-whe
I have a general distinction between Atlantic and Pacific shipping companies. K-Line, Evergreen and NYK generally cross the Pacific, while Atlanticargo, Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk cross the Atlantic (though I know Maersk and Sealand have ajoint venture so lots of Maersk containers cross the Pacific) So as a general rule of thumb, is it correct to assume that Pacific-origin and Atlantic-origin containers are usually not found on the same train?
There are double ended containers and even three and four side opening ones. They’re usually converted by someone. The structural strength of the container is all in the framework. The roof and sides are just there to keep the cargo from getting wet or stolen.
“No they dont have doors on both ends… no no no! I spent some time running boxes in the NE ports by the dozen and never SAW any double ended door boxes. If they did make one, I dont think they can withstand the lift because weights inside the box can be quite heavy.”
Come to think of it I’ve seen these kinds of containers, but they are meant for largely stationary usage as a storage strcuture and are only placed on trucks to move them to a new location (in many cases these are rented or leased). They are rarely, if ever, used on trains or cargo ships. In other words, clothes, toys or television sets aren’t likely to be imported through these double-sided containers.