We all know autorack cars are some of the tallest railcars out there - measuring some 19-21' high.
But since the Eastern US is known for railroad tracks with lower tunnel and bridge clearance, and cannot run high-clearance rolling stock like autoracks, doublestack container well cars and bi-level passenger cars, how are autos transported east of the Mississippi? Are they all transported by truck? I know containers are able to run single-stack out East, but there's no such thing as single-level, low-clearance autoracks in the US. Also wondering since most of the auto-producing states are east of the Mississippi, and European imports arrive on east coast ports. So how is this done?
Most of the tunnels and bridges that caused problems were replaced 30+ years ago. The only true issues are in certain passenger-heavy tunnels that prevent Superliners into NYC and Baltimore.
NittanyLion Most of the tunnels and bridges that caused problems were replaced 30+ years ago. The only true issues are in certain passenger-heavy tunnels that prevent Superliners into NYC and Baltimore.
Metro Red Line NittanyLion Got it. But how were autos transported in the East in the '70s and '80s, before the clearance issues were addressed?
NittanyLion
Got it. But how were autos transported in the East in the '70s and '80s, before the clearance issues were addressed?
A lot went over the N&W to Walkertown, NC. IIRC, some were delivered to the ACL around Petersburg, VA. Some went out of Roanoke up the Valley to places north.
Really not as big a deal as you seam to make it.[quote
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Metro Red LineGot it. But how were autos transported in the East in the '70s and '80s, before the clearance issues were addressed?
Clearance issues were addressed relatively quickly. If not, a lot of revenue was lost.
Headlight_NYC_9-1966 by Edmund, on Flickr
However I do recall hearing about a train that included autoracks that was rerouted near Toledo, Ohio that wound up skimming the roofs off of a bunch of Eldorados.
Sometimes not all goes as planned:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcqfa_uj2hA
Good Luck, Ed
Plus not every chokepoint was as constricted as it seems. Like right now, you can't run doublestacks or autoracks through downtown Pittsburgh, because they don't fit under the shed at the station.
But, the PRR's bypass around downtown can handle them just fine, despite relying on a bridge from 1915.
Ed wrote: "However I do recall hearing about a train that included autoracks that was rerouted near Toledo, Ohio that wound up skimming the roofs off of a bunch of Eldorados."
The story is right, but the location wrong.
It was on the south end of The River Line (old "West Shore") around North Bergen, NJ. Train was southbound out of Selkirk and had auto racks, I guess back then they were still open on top. The engineer, who I had rode with doing some qualification trips was named Leroy.
They had come down the line, and I think they were supposed to go over a connection called the Northern Running Track (towards Croxton yard), or perhaps those cars were supposed to be dropped around Bergen.
But the dispatcher told them to keep going, through the old NYC freight tunnel to Weehawken. The story goes that the crew tried to tell the dispatcher that they had high cars, but they were ordered to keep going.
So they did... through the tunnel that wasn't quite high enough.
For years the de-topped cars were referred to as "Leroy's Cadillacs".
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
It is true, that when auto racks came on the scene in the 1960s, there were many places in the east where they couldn't go. In many cases, tri-levels could not be used but, bi-levels could, so they were employed. The economy of the tri-level was lost, therefore railroads often employed creative routing over branchlines and secondary routes with more generous clearances to get the automobiles to market. For instance, the New Haven would route them over their secondary routes away from their Shore Line where there was no catenary, to get the cars to Readville MA, where automobiles destined for the greater Boston area were unloaded. These "detour" trains often consisted of a single RS-3 and a dozen tri-level racks, plus a few high priority cars, such as reefers.
Automobile distribution points required a large parcel of open land that was very expensive, and unavailable, the closer you got to the city center. Therefore these distribution hubs were located in the more suburban areas, away from downtown. Also, as you got closer to downtown, the routes passed through older areas where even regular freight cars were restricted. For instance, there were certain groups of refrigerator cars that had to have their ice hatches closed to enter Boston on the Boston and Albany (New York Central). The Boston and Maine was hamstrung by the Hoosac Tunnel as well as low overpasses in the Boston area.
Railroads quickly took measures to increase clearances in order to get this traffic as close to market as possible as, autoracks were not the only cars getting taller (Plate C and hi-cube boxcars, covered hoppers and this is also when the piggyback boom was in full swing). Wherever possible, the preferred method of gaining clearance was lowering the roadbed, instead of rebuilding overpasses. Many tunnels were opened up by lowering their floors. Imports destined for inland points were shipped through ports further south where clearances were more generous.
This move to taller freight cars also occurred at the same time, in the late 1950s-mid 1960s, as the great exodus of industry, particularly from the northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions was in full swing. For instance, there used to be automobile assembly plants in Somerville MA on the Boston and Maine, just north of Boston, Tarrytown NY, up the Hudson River from New York City, and I believe Rahway NJ, that are gone now. High taxes, high wages, and right-to-work laws played roles in driving manufacturing out of the region and, often out of the country, such as the textile, and shoe industries.
In the double-stack era, to eliminate restrictions on their use, tunnels in the east were given "cat ears" or, triangular shaped cutouts near the roofs to accommodate the taller traffic.
NHTX In the double-stack era, to eliminate restrictions on their use, tunnels in the east were given "cat ears" or, triangular shaped cutouts near the roofs to accommodate the taller traffic.
Another method involved eliminating the double track and centering the main track in the tunnel affording the greatest clearance.
Wheeling_Ohio by Edmund, on Flickr
OldEnginemanThe story is right, but the location wrong.
Maybe could have happened more than once? The damaged autos I recall happened on the Norwalk Branch of the "Old Road" of the New York Central in the very early '70s. A wreck had shut down the NYC main across the Sandusky, Oh., causeway. In the detour and general "mayhem" of rerouting trains no one checked what restricted cars may have been in the involved train.
Regards, Ed
In addition to increasing bridge and tunnel clearances, remember, we are talking about the era before the advent of the enclosed auto rack. General American and Pullman-Standard offered a flatcar with a lower deck for piggyback service and many cars rode on trucks with 28 inch, instead of the common 33 inch wheel. Not having a roof on the auto rack and a lower flatcar deck, gave the required clearance on many routes. Lower decks contributed to piggyback cars in the GTTX and LTTX series being prevalent in the east.
The art of peeling the roofs off of autoracks and the cars on the top deck has not been lost! There is a video on youtube entitled "Train crashes into bridge. Low clearance bridge vs. autoracks. Brand new cars destroyed". The low hanging, offending bridge beat any can opener I ever saw, and did I mention it carried another track?
I would love to know who got their walking papers, over this gem.