One from the Wabash

[JANGAJONGA]

Last evenings 263 WB roadrailer


http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 85&skip=-1

[CharlieX90]

Last evenings 263 WB roadrailer


http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 85&skip=-1

Thats 253...not 263 lol.

[hoborich]

I have a question. Do the road railers pose any kind of special handling problems, compared to regular train cars?

For example, the road railers with one bogie per trailer, means brakes on only one truck per car or trailer. Looks like half the braking capacity compared to a standard rail car with two trucks. Anybody know of any special handling instructions for the road railers? Thanks.

[JANGAJONGA]

Last evenings 263 WB roadrailer


http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 85&skip=-1

Thats 253...not 263 lol.

Thanks, I was looking for it but could only find the symbol for the counterpart 264 so i figured it would be 263, I'll change it.

[CharlieX90]

Last evenings 263 WB roadrailer


http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.p ... 85&skip=-1

Thats 253...not 263 lol.

Thanks, I was looking for it but could only find the symbol for the counterpart 264 so i figured it would be 263, I'll change it.

253 doesn't run everyday and last i checked,it only goes as far as Fort Wayne. 264 comes out of Atlanta.

[Big Frank]

I have a question. Do the road railers pose any kind of special handling problems, compared to regular train cars?

For example, the road railers with one bogie per trailer, means brakes on only one truck per car or trailer. Looks like half the braking capacity compared to a standard rail car with two trucks. Anybody know of any special handling instructions for the road railers? Thanks.

With eliminating the rail car itself your eliminating a lot of the weight involved as well. In transit no special care is required... a loaded highway legal semi trailer weighs 34,000 LBS now if you add a well car or piggy back car you have easily doubled that

[MDH]

I have a question. Do the road railers pose any kind of special handling problems, compared to regular train cars?

For example, the road railers with one bogie per trailer, means brakes on only one truck per car or trailer. Looks like half the braking capacity compared to a standard rail car with two trucks. Anybody know of any special handling instructions for the road railers? Thanks.

With eliminating the rail car itself your eliminating a lot of the weight involved as well. In transit no special care is required... a loaded highway legal semi trailer weighs 34,000 LBS now if you add a well car or piggy back car you have easily doubled that

Beat me to it... I was going to point out that freight cars typically weigh about 30+ tons empty up to about 140+ tons loaded (286,000 Lb cars or 315,000 Lbs total gross) with 4 axles for braking vs 2 axles for 34,000 Lbs so theoretically a roadrailer has much higher brakes/weight ratio than say a loaded grain train. The train handling issues with roadrailers tend to have more to do with pulling them off the tracks on tight curves (i.e. "string lining" them) because they are so light. That's happened a few times.

Weight limit example:

http://www.uprr.com/aboutup/maps/grossweight.shtml

String lining example:

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,771549

Michael

[J T]

Are roadrailer trailers more reinforced over the typical truck trailer to avoid being pulled apart ala a tug of war?

[CSX_CO]

One thing I've been told is that they are easy to 'use up your air' on. Long brake pipe, with only one brake in between the two cars. Since it is so light, you think you can 'hot dog' the train. But, it takes a long time to build up your pressure again. Unlike other intermodal equipment where you have 2 or 3 reservoirs per car, with more brakes, which gives you more 'air' to draw from. Plus, with less brakes per 'car' it takes longer to stop, or you need more air. Though, I think most of the guys who run them, that get decent power, probably just use the dynamic brakes to slow or stop the train. One nice thing is the only slack in the train is between the engine and the first bogey. The few Conrail guys I knew that talked about running them said they were easy to get in trouble on because you had this false sense that they would stop better than they did.

Now, on a highway trailer, I *think* your numbers are off a bit? Looking at UMLER for some container weights, a 'typical' shipping container tare weight is 10,300 lbs (5 tons). Load limit is 67,000 lbs (33 tons). This is for a 53' container. The car that particular container is riding on has a tare weight of 57,300 lbs (~28.5 tons) and a load limit of 220,000 lbs (110 tons or basically two containers).

And really, intermodal trains rarely get near the tonnage of say a grain car or coal car, so the additional weight of the equipment itself may have a little effect, but its not much. Even 'light' loaded freight cars rarely get under the 110 ton mark. Most are closer to 130 to 143 tons.

So, adding a 33 ton trailer to a flat car doesn't make *that* much difference in the overall weight. Yes, it might 'double' the weight, but it is still light compared to your regular freight car. In the example of the roadrailer, a 33 ton trailer has 1 brake (two wheels) per trailer, or 1 brake for every 33 tons. This particular single well intermodal car mentioned above is loaded to 55 tons, but has two brakes. So, it has 1 brake per 27.5 tons. In the case of a 5 packer I see, its loaded to 178 tons, with 6 brakes, or 1 brake per ~30 tons. Still under that of a roadrailer as far as brakes per ton go. If double stacked to the load limit, then you'd have 1 brake per 55 tons. Even when double stacked, looking at some weights on some 5 packers, you are still under the 33 tons per brake you'd have on a roadrailer.

For example, Q106-19 is coming out of St. Louis with 17 loaded cars, 2000 tons, and 3000' of train. I've been on ballast trains that are shorter than that, and 4 times as heavy. So, in general, intermodal trains don't have the tonnage per foot of say a freight train or unit train anyway. Then again, you have on a typical intermodal train you have a lot more drag forces in effect too.

One other problem with roadrailers is when there is a problem with one of the bogeys, while rare, it is a major PIA to set out the trailer on line of road.

Practice Safe CSX

[CSX_CO]

Are roadrailer trailers more reinforced over the typical truck trailer to avoid being pulled apart ala a tug of war?

I believe they do have some sort of additional bracing because there was a ban on AMTRAK roadrailers on CSX back when express was still carried. NS trailers were exempt because they had additional bracing already. Apparently the AMTRAK roadrailers were prone to the 'back breaking' in the middle of the trailer. Until retrofitted, CSX was not allowing certain classes of AMTRAK Roadrailers on its lines. I'd imagine they have a bit beefier floor to transfer the forces between the front 'tongue' and the rear bumper when used in Roadrailer service. Not sure if the "Conrail St. Louis Line" DVD I have shows them building Roadrailers at Wabash National in Lafayette, or just their standard trailers. Might have to check it out.

Practice Safe CSX

[CSXIndyLine]

The counterpart to 264 is 251.

[CharlieX90]

The counterpart to 264 is 251.

That is not a true counterpart. 264 runs Atlanta to Detroit. 251 does not touch Michigan.

[Big Frank]

Here is all your questions answered including the construction of the trailers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozqY3Ze4 ... e=youtu.be