TT equips for growth: the heavy-lift double stack car will help intermodal penetrate new markets; after several years of prototype testing, Trailer train has placed production orders with two builders - Trailer Train Co

Railway Age, May, 1991

Articulation of intermodal railcars was the big technological advance of the 1980s, articulation of both double-stack well cars and single-level cars, as well as the development of single-level cars capable of handling both trailers and containers.

Car designers and builders managed to come up with railcars that can handle everything from 20-foot containers to 53-foot boxes in and on well cars, and everything up to 48-foot trailers on single-level articulated cars.

The technological advance of the early 1990s probably will be the heavy-lift double-stack car, either stand-alone or in a drawbar-coupled configuration.

These cars have been under development for a number of years, and Trailer Train built three prototypes several years ago. Now, production orders have been placed with Gunderson and Thrall Car.

These cars don't exceed the standard 263,000-pound weight-on-rail limit. But, with a pair of trucks under each well, they are heavy-lift cars, and there are several markets for them.

One is movement of solid waste, the so-called urban ore. Gunderson was first out with its Husky-Stack, and these cars are already in service hauling solid waste from the Seattle area in double-stacked containers that are tightly sealed and give no indication as to what the lading is.

A second market has to do with domestic containerization, with boxes that tend to load heavy.

Yet a third may have to do with import freight in 20-foot containers, some of which have proved to be very heavy, with consequent problems for both rail carriers and for highway carriers.

Orders thus far include 150 stand-alone units for Trailer Train and 106 for Burlington Northern from Gunderson, and A5 standalone wells plus 72 wells drawbar-connected into 18 four-well cars from Thrall.

Trailer Train's original plans called for acquisition in 1991 of 2,500 double-stack wells and 2,500 platforms built to the TT articulated all-purpose spine-car design. All of the double-stack cars except the stand-alones would be five-unit articulated, as would the spine cars.

Under present circumstances, with traffic soft and economic conditions uncertain, TT has put some acquisition plans on hold, to see how the economy behaves and how such elements as the trailer market develop.

But TT has about 2,000 89-foot flatcars scheduled for retirement this year, and if the economy and traffic rebound, it's likely that orders on hold may be released and that increases in car acquisition could take place.

(In addition to intermodal equipment, Trailer Train will also begin testing a Thrall-built articulated bi-level autorack car; it has ordered 21 heavy-duty flatcars of four types from Itel Rail and Difco and it may place orders for 200 centerbeam flatcars.)

* Still looking, still testing. with its intermodal equipment, TT isn't standing pat. It's testing both domestic and offshore equipment.

For example, 75 of the stand-alone cars from Thrall will come with trucks from North American Bogies, the licensee for Wagon-Union. With the three prototypes built in the 1980s, TT also tested various trucks, but later equipped all of the cars with W-U trucks, while also experimenting with these units on a couple of low-level cars.

The same willingness to experiment has to do with articulated connectors. More than 90% of the articulated cars in service are equipped with the ASF connector, but Trailer Train also has a number of cars fitted with the National Castings-type connector and it has tested a connector from Buckeye Steel Castings and the SAC-1 connector from WABCO/Cardwell Westinghouse. That latter connector will be the one going onto the prototype articulated bi-level autorack.

TT engineers recall that they had start-up problems with the National Castings design, which features a tapered pin. But changes were worked out, including changes that made it easier to remove the pin, and the design is working well.

Similar growing pains were experienced with the ASF connector, but ASF has made a series of improvements and it's still the link between the great majority of wells and platform in the Trailer Train fleet of articulated cars.

All of this has something to do with th(philosophy that TT has developed, which is to try to standardize while remaining flexible in order to test new designs and components.

* Problem-solving. What about derailment problems that have been experienced on certain occasions with double-stack cars? The jury is out. TT is awaiting results of truck-rotation studies that are being conducted at the Transportation Test Center, tests that will also compare effects as regards new and worn components. In the meantime, it's going to side-bearing designs that promise improved performance, products from both Stucki and Miner, that will be installed on all new double-stack cars, including the stand-alone cars.

What about quality? TT says that over the past few years it has had "a rash" of quality problems, problems that quickly become the problems of its customers and owners. TT has tried to change its focus from just quality control to quality assurance, not only from outside vendors but also from its own shops.