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[quote user="greyhounds"] [quote user="CNW 6000"]Where do RoadRailers fit in this discussion?  It seems that they move quick and have good turnaround time.  May not entirely replace some stack trains but could that application be utilized more?[/quote]They don't.  Please see my above post.1) There is no bi-modal technology that can effectively handle containers except in very limited, specialized situations.[/quote]Ever heard of RailRunner?<a href="http://www.railrunner.com/">http://www.railrunner.com/</a>RailRunner is specifically designed to effectively handle containers in very unlimited, unspecialized situations, aka anyhow everywhere![quote]2) I worked for RoadRailer and I ran the the numbers vis a vis double stack several times.  Where the volume exists to support a full stack train, stacks are by far and away the cheapest way to move containers (except for the ship.)[/quote]As I pointed out above, double stack takes a lot of pre-emptive sorting and marshalling just to make it appear efficient - those costs usually don't show up on the railroad's books, but always show up on the shipper's books.  And the RailRunner load factor beats the double stack load factor for moving primarily 40' containers, so there's a savings in fuel costs as well.  Add to that the elimination of the need for the consolidated super-sized intermodal terminal in favor of regular sidings at multiple locations, and bi-modal single stack beats double stack hands down.  RailRunner bogies are designed to handle 100+ mph speeds, something that can't be said for most well cars, thus the potential for increasing the number of cycles using RailRunner vs double stacks is also paramount.The reason bi-modal single stack isn't used yet is the always present resistence closed access railroaders have for change, especially when that forward-thinking change represents a threat to older investments which still haven't been depreciated.  John Kneiling was a champion of pointing this out - railroader usually have to be dragged kicking and screaming to implement cutting edge evolutionary designs.
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