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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by rllewiszz CPR is getting out of the TOFC business. They have a "MaxStack" program underway to convert as much trailer traffic as possible to stack train, looking for a 16% gain in productivity. This program is said to be 80% complete. (See http://www.trainscan.com/news/scan/s0404/index.html and the CPR Second Quarter, 2004 press release.) Possible this is diverting some business to the highways. [/quote] If CPR wants to maximize it's stack train business, why did they allow TTX to bully them away from the introduction of Greenbrier's "Stack 'n a Half" concept? The Stack 'n a Half would allow a 30% increase in stack train load factor (which put another way would increase full economy by roughly 20% with the complimentary gross weight to light weight factor). CPR instead decided to spend needlessly on increasing siding length, which will allow more boxes per train but does nothing to improve the load factor efficiency. If you want to know what the Stack 'n a Half is, go the the U.S. Patent office website at <www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html> and search for patents 6,546,878 and 6,510,800. What the Stack 'n a Half is is basically three drawbar connected well cars with a load capacity of 160,000 lbs each e.g. a typical 2 x 20' in the well and a 40'+ container on top, and an additional 20' container placed over the drawbar between the two wells. This gets rid of the dead space between the wells, allowing for better aerodynamics, and allows more flexibility in selecting box placement. By allowing the odd 20' to be placed between the wells instead of tacking it on to the end of the consists on some old container flat, you get rid of alot of needless tare weight. It's a simple yet brilliant concept, which is probably why the railroads haven't adopted it yet![V] DWS
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