can anyone tell me if any of trailer train’s front runner TOFC flatcars are still in service, or have they all be taken out a service a while ago?
First of all; I had no idea what a " Front Runner" car was so I found this link: http://shastaroute.railfan.net/Front_Runner.html (This to a page with several views of these cars.)
TTUX 130362; Class YLF 10; Built 08.87; Manufactured by Hyundai, assembled by Gunderson. Photographed 09.–.87, UP Albina Yard, Portland, Oregon
This linked photo is a single car: http://shastaroute.railfan.net/Photos/Front_Runner/04672.jpg
If this lot is constructed in 1987, You are correct that they are getting ready, if not already to be removed from service.
No precise details here, but they’ve been gone since 1994, or possibly earlier. A single axle per end of the carbody just isn’t practical.
Last one I saw was around 2000, and it was hanging between two tank cars with no wheels under it. Someone put too much tonnage behind it, and I destroyed it, pulling it into the yard.
Nick
IIRC, weren’t these particularly prone to derailment due to the single axle configuration? I think I remember reading about that back in the 90s.
They worked tolerably when they were used on the MILW Sprint trains. When used in dedicated trainsets not mixed with other types of Intermodal equipment. Otherwise they were too low on tare weight, and by extension strength too.
Were any saved in a museum someplace ? If so , where ? If not, are there any definitive articles with dimensional diagrams or scale drawings, etc., such as in a modeling magazine ?
- Paul North.
Paul:
Googling “Trailer Train Corp/Front Runner” gets you a link to Hobbyline.com–
Shows a model of the Front Runner Model Kit.
Linked TTX website (History/1980) @: http://www.ttx.com/aboutttx/history.aspx/#1970
This entry: " 1982: One prototype single-axle, single-platform hitch car and two articulated hitch cars are tested. "
And