What’s the point?

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

NS runs “Roadrailer” Trains through Lafayette IN very often. These trailers are headed for Kansas City, Dallas, etc. I just don’t get why NS goes through all the trouble to put the trailers on trucks. Why doesn’t the railroad use a TOFC system?

It seems like it would be easier. Also, if you had a bad order car, you could just set out that car.

2

I don’t know much about Roadrailer service, but I have read that one of the advantages is weight. Pulling trailers with the Roadrailer equipment draws considerable less weight than TOFC, and thereby would save on fuel and locomotive operation.

3

Getting trailers on flat cars isn’t any easier and every flat car represents about 15 tons of dead weight. I would guess NS thinks you move more goods at lower cost when you reduce the tare (dead) weight and just haul trailers rather trailers on flat cars. Does that make sense?

4

IIRC, TOFCs in use today are 5-unit articulated spine cars, though the older 89’ flat cars are still around too. I read that BNSF tried the roadrailer concept in the early 2000s, but gave up on it and went back to TOFC.

5

Air resistance - and hence fuel usage - is also much higher with TOFC than RR.

TOFC also has a much higher ‘center of gravity’ than RR, which can limit speeds in some instances.

TOFC usually requires the big ‘PiggyPackers’ or similar to lift them on and off the cars - unless they’re loaded ‘circus-style’ - and high-quality paved terminals to support all that concentrated weight. But the RR only needs a track filled with crushed stone, and minimal equipment - a large forklift, and a regular truck yard ‘hostler’ tractor with a hydraulic 5th wheel lifter, etc.

There are other reasons, but these are some of the main ones. Perhaps other members can expand on these.

Some RR’s can also be set-out if bad-ordered. See the article in Trains a year or so ago about the Mark IV model one that derailed and then rerailed itself on the then-BN (former CB&Q) line to St. Louis at the Mississippi River area - when the train crew was notified about it, they had to improvise the set-out themselves, in the middle of the night, with coaching over the phone from the RR’s Operations Manager.

  • Paul North.
6

It’s all about the money they can make from the perceived and real cost savings.

  1. TC terminals are smaller (cheaper to build)
  2. Trailer lifting equipment for T/COFC is more expensive than the large forklifts needed to handle TC equipment
  3. TC terminals don’t have to be paved to support the lifting equipment (again cheaper).
  4. TC doesn’t have to buy or pay per diem on flatcars to carry the trailers.
  5. NS doesn’t have to store or find a place to store the flatcars when they’re not in use, TC stores bogies on any flat surface, if necessary.
  6. TC trains don’t have to carry around all that extra weight (of flatcars) burning extra fuel
  7. Because they are lighter, NS doesn’t have to buy more locomotives to carry around those pesky, unnecessary flatcars. Look at other intermodal trains with 3 or more locomotives while even the largest TC could be hauled around by 1.
7

TC = Triple Crown Services, the subsidiary of NS = Norfolk Southern that operates the RR = RoadRailer

EDIT - P.S.: Does the ‘FORTRAN IV’ programming experience show through here ? [:D]

8

All you need to build a roadrailer train is a forklift, jockey truck, and some paved tracks. A lot simpler than container cranes.

9

Good thing I wasn’t sipping something when I read that, Paul, or I would be drying off my PowerBook screen. I suspect that the number of programmers and engineers who got that is pretty small.

10

I see why the flats that haul TOFC trailers would drag the train down speed wise, and ad wear on the rail, and it‘s just more equipment to have to maintain. . A lot of times I these trains with just one locomotive, most of the time a GE-8 or -9, they are absolutely hauling. And they are really long. A semi trailer isn’t nothing’ to a locomotive with at least 4,000 hp. I guess.

Thanks

Justin

11

Periodically, there is a Triple Crown movement on the Ark City Sub (BNSF) origin at Dallas. The train is always got NS power(always 2 NS Locomotives) on the head-end. Trains seem to always be at least one hundered plus cars, running as fast as any BNSF trains I’ve observed.

The most unusual feature is BNSF not running their engines in front of the NS Locomotives, and they are always Northbound, have not observed any Southbound in this area. Maybe they come across to Dallas on a KCS/NS routing over the “Meridian Speedway”?

Link To Triple Crown Web site: http://www.triplecrownsvc.com/Equipment.html

And I would guess if they are reordering 700+ new trailers, they are probably profitable-- That’s the point![tup][tup]

12

Some of the Roadrailers can be substantial in legnth, and I have seen them with more than one locomotive. They are interesting but NS seems to be best at handling it, I don’t think TOFC is going anyplace anytime soon. I remember Conrail using this concept too with varying degrees of success. It seems to be more prevalent under NS.

13

Are Road Railers only run as unit trains or do they stick them on the end of other freights?

[%-)]

14

NOW Paul I’ll take my old machine language anytime. Can’t even stand that FORTRAN I. And as for DOS---- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

15

Unit trains only. Amtrak ran them for awhile on the rear of passenger trains until the freight railroads complained (filed suit? don’t know) about Amtrak hauling freight over their lines.

16

Is that what happened? I thought it just wasn’t profitable for them.