What Did I See....?

[Modelcar]

....Waiting for a train to pass here in Muncie about an hour ago, as it came in off the frankfort line {NS}, I noted it was mostly Staley tanks, and some others and covered grain cars...Very typical. 

But sliced in it's midst were 2 cars about the size of covered auto racks, with smooth almost white sides and the curved roof structure....The sides had 3 levels of little square "vents" maybe 2 ft. square along the cars length....and the cars had a full "bellows" seal like passenger cars have but these were clear to the outside edges of the cars.

They were also permanently coupled together....as they had only one truck that supported the two cars where they coupled.

They were plainly marked with black letters across their length "Kansas City Southern".....and had a sizable red logo on one end of the car, again....Kansas City Southern.  Any thoughts out there....?

[youngengineer]

articulated autorack cars!

[nanaimo73]

Hi Quentin,

I think youngengineer is right, did they look like these-

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/rsPicture.aspx?id=95062

[Modelcar]

.....Yes, Dale....Exactly.  Those are the ones.

What made me wonder about not being auto racks, was the center support with just one truck....

And what's with the big bellows between them....Seems to me that would lessen the support of the structure not to have a solid end for support.....But then, AutoTrain does it too.....They drive in one end all the way thru until the cars are full.  I've watched them load in Sanford, Fl.

Thanks for the quick answers guys....

[CShaveRR]

Q, those are the infamous white "cell-block" cars; if you look closely at the sides, you can see some of the shackles.

Seriously, the rack cars need no supporting structure on the ends--remember that for years these things existed without roofs, end doors, or covered sides--the rack structure that was visible back then is hardly changed in normal racks built this year.

All of those extra appurtenances were added for one reason--to reduce damage to the lading from external objects (weather, vandalism, theft, whatever).  The rubber diaphragms have the same reason for their existence.  It's possible (though I can't confirm this) that these cars could be loaded over the articulated joint, in much the same way as some articulated piggyback flats are.

[WSOR 4025]

Q, those are the infamous white "cell-block" cars; if you look closely at the sides, you can see some of the shackles.

Seriously, the rack cars need no supporting structure on the ends--remember that for years these things existed without roofs, end doors, or covered sides--the rack structure that was visible back then is hardly changed in normal racks built this year.

All of those extra appurtenances were added for one reason--to reduce damage to the lading from external objects (weather, vandalism, theft, whatever).  The rubber diaphragms have the same reason for their existence.  It's possible (though I can't confirm this) that these cars could be loaded over the articulated joint, in much the same way as some articulated piggyback flats are.

Yes, they can be loaded over the articulated joint. These cars are usually used for hauling semi tractors and other large vehicles.

[Modelcar]

....Loading semi's....?  Not sure I follow that.  These cars are equipped with 3 levels.  And another question was the single truck between them....Is weight not a factor there....?

[Newyorkcentralfan]

Q, those are the infamous white "cell-block" cars; if you look closely at the sides, you can see some of the shackles.

Yep. It's right here.

http://web.archive.org/web/20050327102802/http://www.wealth4freedom.com/truth/2/USA_concentration_camps.htm

I was thinking of doing a diorama of about half a dozen of these cars with a big UN painted on the side spotted next to a siding with a stockpen filled with figurines. A chain link fence around the siding, the cars and the stock pen with russian tanks and other AFVs painted white encircling the fence with armed soldier figures outside. Snap a few pictures and send them to these sites and tell them that 'It's Started'. I bet they wouldn't be able to tell that they're models. ;-)

A couple of years ago I took a photo of a black cushman cart like the police use and sent it into some of the black helicopter sites with the caption 'a disturbing new development'. They were not amused. Why do the conspiracy theory folks have no sense of humor?

[TimChgo9]

Q, those are the infamous white "cell-block" cars; if you look closely at the sides, you can see some of the shackles.

Yep. It's right here.

http://web.archive.org/web/20050327102802/http://www.wealth4freedom.com/truth/2/USA_concentration_camps.htm

 . .........Why do the conspiracy theory folks have no sense of humor?

Because, they're conspiracy theorists. Besides, paranoid, delusional whack-jobs aren't known for their laughter......

[tree68]

IIRC, the "Max" cars are aimed at the SUV market, not semi's.  Haven't managed to see any up close and in person yet, but I can imaging watching a solid train of them going by - a moving wall.

[youngengineer]

Q, those are the infamous white "cell-block" cars; if you look closely at the sides, you can see some of the shackles.

Yep. It's right here.

http://web.archive.org/web/20050327102802/http://www.wealth4freedom.com/truth/2/USA_concentration_camps.htm

I was thinking of doing a diorama of about half a dozen of these cars with a big UN painted on the side spotted next to a siding with a stockpen filled with figurines. A chain link fence around the siding, the cars and the stock pen with russian tanks and other AFVs painted white encircling the fence with armed soldier figures outside. Snap a few pictures and send them to these sites and tell them that 'It's Started'. I bet they wouldn't be able to tell that they're models. ;-)

A couple of years ago I took a photo of a black cushman cart like the police use and sent it into some of the black helicopter sites with the caption 'a disturbing new development'. They were not amused. Why do the conspiracy theory folks have no sense of humor?

WHEW! I'm glad someone was able to bring that to light, I can only imagine what has since happened to them since we are not really free! I mean how can you have such a breach of security alerting us to the fact of whats going on!

[WSOR 4025]

IIRC, the "Max" cars are aimed at the SUV market, not semi's.  Haven't managed to see any up close and in person yet, but I can imaging watching a solid train of them going by - a moving wall.

I was wrong about the semis too. This is what it says about the auto-max cars on wikipedia: 

Railroads of today are still grappling with the problem of loading more and larger vehicles onto autoracks. One popular solution is to create a double-length car that is articulated over a single middle truck so that each half of the car is about the same length as a conventional autorack. These cars, which can be seen in operation on many of the railroads of the western US (but also seen occasionally in the Great Lakes and Southern Ontario), are brand named AutoMax cars. These cars, built by Gunderson (a subsidiary of The Greenbrier Companies) measure 145 ft 4 in (44.3 m) long and 20 ft 2 in (6 m) tall; they feature adjustable interior decks to carry up to 22 light trucks and minivans.

[Modelcar]

....These types of auto carrier must not be used in this area very much as this sighting of them is the first for me.  They did catch my eye with their smooth sides, large bellows and single truck between the two cars.

[TimChgo9]

I have seen those articulated auto racks quite a few times on the BNSF through Joliet Union Station.  

One auto rack train had several of them strung together, it is very much like a "moving wall".  It's kind of shocking, really, grimy auto rack, after grimy autorack, and then this big, long, bright white car.... they are neat to watch go by.   Also, CN I believe, has some auto racks that are silver, and a string of those almost looks like streamlined passenger cars from a distance...

[Modelcar]

 

....For sure, just 2 of them caught my eye.

[CShaveRR]

There are three levels on these Auto-Max cars.  Not all three can haul pickups/minivans/SUVs, because of the height limitations.  Either the uppermost or the lowest level (I've forgotten) will haul conventional cars while the other two carry the bigger vehicles (probably the bottom level, to concentrate the weight lower, and lower the center of gravity).  These cars aren't like conventional auto racks, built on a solid platform--the bottom deck drops down between the trucks (having one truck instead of two at the articulated connection just might make room for another vehicle or two!).

Also notice that these cars are not really twice as long as a conventional rack--more like 1.5 times the length.  This, believe it or not, allows them to be wider in the carbody, reducing damage incurred during loading and unloading.

As for your weight question, Quentin, a typical auto rack doesn't come anywhere near a 70-ton car's gross rail load, either loaded or empty.  In fact, in many instance springs are removed from the trucks, further reducing the load the car can carry--just because it's not likely to ever be needed.  These cars will have a star by their load limit, indicating that it's not to be changed except by the owner, who knows how the trucks are configured.  What I'm getting at is that the center truck will hold more, but it can be designed that way without any problem.  I don't know whether they use a "100-ton" truck or a "70-ton" truck with all of the springs intact, but it would definitely have a higher rating than the two outer trucks--that's a relatively minor design problem.

Tim, Larry:  you're right--a trainload of these comes as close to a wall as anything you would ever care to see rolling down the tracks.  We've had discussions before about decicated moves from one manufacturer (Honda?  CRS is in control today!) that operate entire trains of these cars.

Tim, those other racks you saw are Freight Car America's Aluminum Vehicle Carriers--CP and CN both have fleets of them.  They're basically the same dimensions as a conventional auto rack.  Amtrak uses a similar fleet of aluminum cars (also built by Freight Car America) in the Auto Train now.

[Modelcar]

....Thanks Carl, for the comment on the single truck use.

[Newyorkcentralfan]

Well it's funny you should mention this. The page wasn't up and I had to use archives.org to get a viewable link. So, for all I know the UN took the site owner camping in one of those cars.

WHEW! I'm glad someone was able to bring that to light, I can only imagine what has since happened to them since we are not really free! I mean how can you have such a breach of security alerting us to the fact of whats going on!