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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by tomtrain Have wondered if freight gauge were wide enough to accomodate 20' boxes at 90 degrees to the flat car if there would be merit to doing that? (Looking at it as a system) [/quote] In theory, you could carry 20's that way on standard gauge if you have enough clearance, but not at speed. If you want to maximize speed and load factor for that idea, you would need up to 10' in gauge width, or go with the parallel twin set of standard gauge tracks. The problem is that 20's make up only 20% at most of the containers being moved about the country. If your 20's are placed sideways, where are you going to put or stack the 40's and 53's? If you're going to design an ultrawide freight and passenger rail system from scratch, you need to do so in those markets with the most boxes and growth potential in order to justify the financial risk. The side by side container concept would be a better risk, e.g. a wide enough gauge to haul ISO and domestic containers side by side and stacked two high (the quad stack idea). There is also some marketing potential for new products to move on a wider gauge that currently cannot move on traditional standard gauge clearances. How about manufactured homes, wide body aircraft such as the AC 330 (the seeming trend in future plane design), bigger generators, bigger turbines? What about shipping autos parked sideways instead of lengthwise? Many lumber mills take logs around 15' or so in length, with a wider gauge those logs could be stacked sideways, as could some dimensional lumber. The potential improvement in load factor is phenomenal. For passenger services, think of the advantages of sleeping compartments with some actual elbow room. A dining car where the waiters don't have to constantly brush up against you in the aisle. A lounge car where one can actually fit a grand piano. A theatre car with an actual wide projection screen. Handicapped access would be vastly improved. People who currently don't give passenger rail a second thought would flock to the stations to experiene such a travel ideal.
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