I am modeling a small yard in Minden, LA in 1976. The yard has two piggyback tracks. I know that there were no ramps for the tracks even at that time. Does anyone know what equipment may have been used to load and unload piggyback trailers at that time period in a small yard? Also does any company model that type of equipment in HO scale?
Thanks!
I’m sure by 1976 loaders were used in major yards, A really small facility could have done “circus” style. Driving the truck up a ramp, and on to a string of flats.
Wheels of Time makes some nicely detail models of loaders.
Mike.
Unfortunately, I know there were no ramps at this yard.
So, you know there wer no ramps, but they were designated tracks for piggy back flats? (TOFC)
They must have used some type of loader, if there was no overhead type crane there.
The pictures I want to show, might have copyright protection, but check out this site for early type piggy back loaders.
http://www.wheelsotime.com/blog/2011/8/12/variations-to-pc-90-piggy-packer.html
Mike.
Thanks. That looks exactly like what I need.
Flying Crow,
In the 1970s, locations such as Minden probably employed portable ramps for a couple of reasons:
Trailers could arrive facing in either direction since the loaders in Portland Maine or, Portland Oregon had no idea which way Minden’s ramp was oriented. Cars with trailers pointed the wrong way would have to be turned on a wye or turntable if one was available. This required additional switching, thus additional expense.
By the mid 70s, most railroads were phasing out their smaller piggyback terminals in favor of larger facilities in major cities. It was faster and cheaper to load/unload trailers in large, multi tracked yards, even with circus style fixed ramps and truck them 50 miles to the consignee, instead of stopping every 40 or 50 miles to pick up or set out a few cars. Circus handling of trailers was rapidly losing favor, no matter how many or how few trailers were involved.
It is highly unlikely a railroad would spend money on a loader such as the Wheels of Time model to serve the two tracks at Minden when Shreveport was relatively close by. Most likely, while Minden was an active piggyback terminal, a portable ramp was employed. A picture of one is on p.94 of Kalmbach’s “Piggyback and Container Traffic” book. The last one I saw was on the L&N in Gulfport MS in 1974. It was used on a double ended siding so east or west bound trains could set off and pick up piggyback cars. The ramp was towed to where it was needed according to the direction the nose of the trailers faced.
I vaguely remember a model of a portable ramp being offered in HO back in the 1970s, but by whom, I don’t recall. Still, it should be an easy scratch build.
Thanks, that makes a lot of sense. I’ll need to get a hold of that book and then try to scratch build one.
Walthers has these:
https://www.walthers.com/transload-park-loading-ramps-pkg-2-kit
The only other ramp I’ve seen from Walthers is for loading auto racks.
I don’t the book that NHTX talks about, would be interesting to see.
Mike.
“Piggyback and Container Traffic” sells for $21.95 in the “Books” section of the Kalmbach Hobby Store, or from Amazon.
The Walthers ramps referrred to are very close to the portable piggyback ramps I remember. Just make sure the height is correct and add a bridge plate.
I would agree with the portable ramps. A small yard like that wouldn;t support the then fairly new and expensive pieces of machinery now found all over the place.
I was just not far from there, spent the past 6 weeks, with one week off in between, in Bossier. Lots of rail activity there and across the river in Shreveport.
–Randy
Definately portable ramps. Even big terminals with ramps, packers or cranes would have had portable ramps for special situations in that era.
Portable ramps go back to the 50’s and lasted until circus loading was totally gone.
I have a picture or two somewhere, maybe I can post it later.
Sheldon
I found this:
http://www.nprha.org/Publications/Marketing/NP_Piggy_Back_Pamphlet_M.pdf
Scroll down to page 6. It shows a portable ramp pulled by a truck, and set up at the rail yard.
Looks older than 70’s.
I didn’t think finding pictures of a portable ramp, other than what you’d use to load an atv, would be so scarce
Mike.
It would appear that pamphlet is from somewhere in the early to middle 1960’s, because there are ZIP codes listed for the offices at the bottom, and those didn’t come into being until 1963. The tractor pulling the portable ramp is definitely an older model, but yard trailers often were older models, no need for the latest because they didn’t have to pull heavy loads on the highway.
That portable ramp looks the same as ones seen in later photos, I doubt the design changed much, there was little need for it to change.
–Randy
Here is another photo of that exact same type of portable ramp
In those NP photos, all those trailers are 60’s era 40’ stuff, and 85’ flat cars, also dating that to the mid 60’s.
The trailer in this photo is also a 40’er from the 60’s. The tractor in the photo above is a B model MACK, produced from 1953 to 1966. But that means little because those trucks lasted so well they can still be found in use today.
When I was a teen in the early 70’s, CAROLINA FREIGHT was still using their B models for local deliveries and had an inhouse rebuilding program that kept them looking like new. They did not phase them out until the mid 80’s.
My father worked in the trucking business most of his life, and for short time with the SOUTHERN RAILWAY in their piggyback system. I learned a lot…
And piggyback is a big part of my modeling.
Sheldon
Thanks, great picture.
It would be great to find one of these portable loading ramps. I wonder why some company has not made them. The pictures were great but not enough for me to attempt to model one.
https://www.walthers.com/transload-park-loading-ramps-pkg-2-kit
While not “exactly” the proper ramp it would work in a pinch.
I’ve seen some ramps made from old flat cars when a quick and cheap solution was needed.
[edit] I see my link is the same as the one posted earlier by Mike. [:$] Sorry.
Good Luck, Ed
Now that I found the pamphlet, I linked to above, and a re-look at the Walthers ramp, I think it would be a fairly easy bash project, to make the NP portable ramp, using the Walthers kit.
Mike.
The biggest problem with the Walthers ramp is that it is not really wide enough…
It needs to be wider than the truck/trailer. Being an unloading ramp for trailer contents, it is barely as wide as the trailer. Just looking at the pictures I doubt the trailer wheels would even fit on it width wise.
Sheldon
Sheldon,
That B model Mack, looks like it has an old style Bartlett hydraulic fifth wheel on it. Place I worked for in the 60’s until they shut their doors in 82’ started out with a IH R-190 1954 single axle tractor converted into a spotter that the shop installed a Bartlett lift on. Funny thing about was, that when you lifted a trailer, the springs would go down first, once they bottomed out, it would lift the trailer up. Sure beat the heck out of cranking dolly legs all nite though. They finally broke down and bought some Capacity spotters, with a large air bag lift on it, solid mounted, (hard rubber) axle.
https://www.bws-yto.com/Cincinnati-bartlett-lifting-device.html
A Wheels in Time white metal casting kit spotting tractor that I made into a working fifth wheel lift:
Take Care! [:D]
Frank