I caught this today, you don't see this practice much anymore, now that the 57' spine cars are more and more common.
A couple of years ago, I used to see this done alot.
One trailer, two cars.
Mike.
My You Tube
I recall seeing those come through Cleveland, too. They were drawbar-connected cars. I remember those little "FrontRunner" cars, too. Any of those left on today's railroads?
Cheers, Ed
If you live around Enola or Harrisburg, you may see them often. I’ve railfanned the area for years and have not seen as many of these cars as I used to.
gmpullmanI remember those little "FrontRunner" cars, too. Any of those left on today's railroads?
I haven't seen any of those. It's getting rare enough to see the flats. I think since the 57' spines came out, you see less and less of the flats.
They might even be longer than 57', as what I've seen, is a spine car, but with a truck stand on both ends. Two 28' pups fit on one spine.
Ed, according to volume one of "The TTX Story" by James D. Panza, Richard W. Dawson, and Ronald P. Sellberg, the Front Runner fleet topped out at 3,342 units. Of these, at least one car, TTOX 130059 survives on display at the National Transportation Museum in St. Louis, MO. Two interesting points about these cars are they originally carried TTUX initials. Problems with overheated journal detection resulted in modifications whose completion was indicated by changing the initials to TTOX. The other item is, the final 500 cars built sat idle from 2002 to 2010. When their financing agreements expired in 2010, the cars could finally be scrapped.
Back in the late 80’s——early 90’s, I had connections with Conrail. Eastbound runs from Conway where on TV2 getting off at ALTO Tower in Altoona. Westbound return runs where either MAIL3 or MAIL9 back to Conway. I do remember a number of these flats, then referred to as Trip53’s. Two 89’ flats draw-bar connected with three 53’ trailers, center trailer stratling the flats. Really enjoyed the view from the locomotives as the entire train was in view while rounding Horseshoe Curve. At that time, Gallitzin had the two original PRR tunnels. Seemed like yesterday, the years have really flown by.
mbinsewi I caught this today, you don't see this practice much anymore, now that the 57' spine cars are more and more common. A couple of years ago, I used to see this done alot. One trailer, two cars. Mike.
I see this once in a while on Santa Fe trains in California. They do look kind of strange having the 5th wheel on one car and the wheels on another car, but I guess it's ok since the 5th wheel can pivot and the wheels are not locked down.
The curves aren't 18 inch radius either.
Lone Wolf and Santa Fe but I guess it's ok since the 5th wheel can pivot and the wheels are not locked down.
The 5th wheel doesn't pivot........the kingpin on the trailer which is locked in the 5th wheel pivots and the trailer wheels are never locked down, but the trailer maxi brakes are on, which can only be released by adding air into the system. Also the trailer landing gear never touches the floor of the flat car. They must be partially up in order to slide the kingpin into the 5th wheel. Which is slid on in reverse order unto the 5th.....meaning the cut out of the fifth wheel is in the front of the fifth wheel for the pin...not like on a tractor where you back into a trailer.
Video of a side loader loading a trailer on a spine car. Watch how the trailer kingpin is loaded from the front of the hitch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1E9IEs3hLY
Take Care!
Frank
zstripeVideo of a side loader loading a trailer on a spine car. Watch how the trailer kingpin is loaded from the front of the hitch:
Thanks Frank !