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So sad that the use has went away to almost nothing, but double stack is hard to compete with an Amtrak's use pissed off railroads who did not like the freight competition. Triple Crown gave me my start in business, not just pulling road trailers back in 1991, but in dust control as I was one of 3 owner ops that pulled their tanker trailer. I have pulled the old style trailers and the adapter trailers, just wish I had photos of them. I worked a lot of the TCS derailment/trailer recoveries over the years. Sure miss that work.
I remember hearing that some shippers actually liked Roadrailers because the trailers were virtually impregnable when made up into a consist. You couldn’t open the doors when the ICC bumper was up for rail travel, and you couldn’t get the bumper down when the trailer was coupled to another trailer. So, unless someone physically carved their way through the side of the trailer, the contents were inaccessible while traveling between terminals.
BNSF's Ice Cold Express (ICE) no longer operates as a Roadrailer train. Occasionally, you might see ICE trailers operating as standard refrigerated intermodal TOFC traffic. Traffic levels for the ICE Roadrailer train was highly seasonal. It could be relatively high during specific California fruit/produce harvests, but traffic levels often fell sharply during the off-months. Note: BNSF still handles Triple Crown Services' Fort Wayne-Kansas City-Dallas roadrailer trains between K.C. and Dallas.
@@Runawayrack Norfolk Southern still runs two Roadrailer trains. 255 and 256, between Detroit and Kansas City. They carry auto parts with it. They are the last two remaining Roadrailer trains in North America.
@@danmcclaren5436 Not sure. A lot of what used to travel in these is just moved in regular intermodal containers nowadays. Honestly NS is kinda under-utilizing these.
This is definetely a great alternative to intermodal transport. I'm sure this make easier work for the engineer because he doesn't have to worry about slack in between the cars. He can just start up his train and go.
Correct. Only Triple Crown Services (TCS) continues to operate Roadrailers. Most of the TCS rail network is indeed provided by its parent company: Norfolk Southern. Minneapolis, Toronto and Dallas are served by way of Union Pacific, Canadian National, and BNSF respectively. BNSF's Ice Cold Express ReeferRailers and Swift's Roadrailers eventually began riding on flatcars as standard TOFC intermodal, after traffic levels were deemed too volatile to continue scheduled dedicated trains.
3.5 days from L.A. to New York is faster than an owner operator like me can legally do it. It takes at least 4.5 days to get from L.A. to N.Y. legally in a fully loaded truck because of the speed limit in California, the traffic leaving L.A., but even if you left at night you are still held up by the Rockies, weather and traffic, and Hours of service. My Rate to pull a 40,000lbs dry load to New York would include Tolls and Turnpike Fees, and come out to about 7,700, or roughly $2.20/mi.
Good points. The sweet spot for rail intermodal is beyond 600 mi, maybe less. Beyond 600 mi, trucks can't compete. Inside the 600 mi, trucks can compete and win. But there are efforts on the railroads part to create inland ports. These ports will be well INSIDE the 600 mi trucker dominated area.
Awesome! Triple Crown alright and Conrail engines alright! I had to look up on Google how they put the trailers together! Fascinating piece of rail kit. I think Schneider use them too. Great video from 'The Vault' 😎🏆3×👑
Amtrak still uses Road Railers on some of their passenger trains, depending on which train uses it. Swift no longer uses them and the Ice Cold Express trailers are seen with the connection tongues torch off. It would be reasonable for other trucking companies to utilize this setup.
Not to far from where I live, NS has a yard where they put there RoadRailers together. Trains there are pretty long and it's kinda funny how SWIFT and Amtrak no longer use these
@@BNSFTrains10 I'm well aware. I used to be a roadrailer mechanic, and I also inspected the train before it departed the yard. I worked out if the Melvindale yard in Michigan.
This is ONE EXCELLENT IDEA ! Moving freight by train is the best way because costs are lower due to less friction, but trucks are best for delivery, so this is the best way to move cargo when diesel is over $10 per gallon, something that we have not gotten to yet, but will soon.
+Willilly Bab *Swift* and BNSF's *Ice Cold Express* canceled their roadrailer service many years ago. *Triple Crown* announced the end of their roadrailer service network in 2015. All that remains is a single Detroit-Kansas City Triple Crown roadrailer dedicated auto parts train operated by Norfolk Southern. Dedicated roadrailer trains have practically been rendered obsolete, and even traditional TOFC piggyback intermodal is waning considerably with each passing year. Double stacked intermodal container service has achieved critical mass, and its economies of scale have become too attractive to ignore from a cost, profit margin, and flexibility stand point, when compared to dedicated roadrailer trains. The Norfolk Southern Triple Crown Detroit-K.C. auto parts service is the only roadrailer train currently operating in the United States as of January 2016, and its future remains uncertain. Get your photos and video while you can.
There will always be a place for trailers in intermodal service - particularly short- to medium-haul intermodal opportunities. The big question is will the railroads be able to capture these opportunities when they open up?
I think that the current management of Norfolk Southern Corporation needs to rethink getting rid of these Triple Crown Road-Railer Trailers and Trains! They should have new 53 Foot Road Railer Vans constructed and new Bogey Wheels constructed to pull more of these. All the ones abolished need to be restored to service. With fuel prices on the rise for the over the road truckers driving rigs on the interstate and more and more people out there that don’t want to work for a living crowding up the damn highways, these Triplecrown trains would definitely ease transportation of goods to distant destinations.
It was not just *Norfolk Southern* that decided to move on from Roadrailers, it was virtually *all* rail operators... across the globe. By the 20-teens (2013-ish), double-stacked domestic 53' intermodal containers had reached enough critical mass and ubiquity in North America to eliminate the cost savings that Roadrailers had once enjoyed. The streamlining of steel wheel interchange through and around important eastern-western railroad interchange points like Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Memphis, New Orleans, and St. Louis, has resulted in double-stack 53' domestic intermodal container shipping as both a *faster* _and_ *less expensive* alternative that was also more flexible than Triple Crown Services' (TCS) hub-and-spoke Roadrailer network, where *all* TCS trains converged in Fort Wayne each night for interchange. In addition, *Wabash National* who holds the patent on the Roadrailer bogies and air ride system, and owns the copyright on the name _RoadRailer,_ decided to quit manufacturing this equipment years ago due to lack of sales, and finally removed RoadRailers from their catalog around 2019. Unfortunately, RoadRailer demand from international export customers in South America, Asia, and Australia had also dried up for similar reasons. So, no one wants to *make* nor *operate* them anymore given that there are less expensive more flexible alternatives in aggregate.
Well NS just ended this service using these and Amtrak was made years ago to get out of the freight hauling business by the RR's and trucking companies.
Roadrailers/boxcars on Amtrak was badass and I was about 2 years old when they had got out of freight business. I wish Amtrak would do this again but the freight railroads were being a bitch about it.
long before 1997. I started with TCS in 1991 and it grew a lot during my time, but for the most part is no longer in use, think one or two small routes.
These trailers suck a$$. The doors suck, the crank sucks, the big air hose is in the way of the crank handle make for extra suckage, the stupid hitch thing that sticks out the front is nearly invisible and just begging to get run into by a semi trying to maneuver in tight yards. The company around here called Triple Crown runs these trailers and they are all rusted to hell after only 10 years. They are quite literally falling apart, horrible to deal with as a driver. No driver likes dealing with these trailers. They're just big pieces of poorly maintained trash.
Honestly a shame that these faded out. I suppose containerization is just that little bit easier, but I'm sure that certain corridors can still benefit from it
Double stack routes that opened up on the East coast and more efficient cranes for containers really hurt the roadrailers. But if you talk with some of TCS's old customers, like GE lighting and BMW they wish they still could use the roadrailers. BMW loved the autorailers, even though they only hauled 6 cars, they were well protected.
@@danmcclaren5436 I believe so, the road railers were great before tunnels were enlarged or done away with. Also improvements in efficiency of building container trains did not help road railers. But when you talk to customers like GE lights, they said nothing was better than the road railers, the no-slack connections made for a great ride and no damage.
i used to work for a triple crown contractor and i heard one draw back to that type of train vs a normal piggy back/ inter modal train is the top speed . the road trailer can travel at on rails
@@jibblesq what time frame. I started as owner op in 1991 based in OH, but by mid 90's was on outside as a dedicated carrier - Salt Rock Transportation. For a short time had a few guys working in Detroit. I spent a lot of time up there too, including pulling the TCS dust control tank trailer. Had guys leased to me doing TCS work in OH, FTW, Chicago and Harrisburg.
Richard Bosnak Scandinavic freight transport is different from the rest of Europe, indeed. I didn't know you had them, but I'm not very surprised you do.
billfusionenterprise They used to be attached one single set of train Wheels in between a spread tandem on the trailer that lifted off the rail with air but they were so heavy until you couldn't haul max weight..
Truckers hates these trailers, they were really heavy and badly maintained the road portion of the equipment. Throw tweaked frames and expensive insurance and they didn't really catch on.
...Cory-Beebee.....@..2:19..GUESS i wasn't...only One ...LOOKING ...at THOSE...HIPS...My ...GOODNESS...!?...and you will See HER ..Again ...Neighborhood..PUB"...During...HAPPY-HOUR-..!?...have a nice ..Day!?..
These trailers do not frames under them, so I doubt they are strong enough to do this. They are not built to pull a lot of weight, they are built to haul weight.
So sad that the use has went away to almost nothing, but double stack is hard to compete with an Amtrak's use pissed off railroads who did not like the freight competition. Triple Crown gave me my start in business, not just pulling road trailers back in 1991, but in dust control as I was one of 3 owner ops that pulled their tanker trailer. I have pulled the old style trailers and the adapter trailers, just wish I had photos of them. I worked a lot of the TCS derailment/trailer recoveries over the years. Sure miss that work.
I remember hearing that some shippers actually liked Roadrailers because the trailers were virtually impregnable when made up into a consist. You couldn’t open the doors when the ICC bumper was up for rail travel, and you couldn’t get the bumper down when the trailer was coupled to another trailer.
So, unless someone physically carved their way through the side of the trailer, the contents were inaccessible while traveling between terminals.
BNSF's Ice Cold Express (ICE) no longer operates as a Roadrailer train. Occasionally, you might see ICE trailers operating as standard refrigerated intermodal TOFC traffic. Traffic levels for the ICE Roadrailer train was highly seasonal. It could be relatively high during specific California fruit/produce harvests, but traffic levels often fell sharply during the off-months.
Note: BNSF still handles Triple Crown Services' Fort Wayne-Kansas City-Dallas roadrailer trains between K.C. and Dallas.
Only 2 of these trains are left in service, NS 255 and 256. Runs from Detroit - Kansas City. It will be abolished soon by NS.
I heard late June early July 2024 they are done
@@jontaylor6068as of June/July 2024 they’re still running.
@@minnesotarailfan12 I know. I said I heard.
@@jontaylor6068 last run of 255 and 256 is august 25 according to trains magazine
It seems that road railers are rarely seen anymore.
Roadrailers don’t run anymore. Triple Crown now gets hauled on intermodal
@@Runawayrack Norfolk Southern still runs two Roadrailer trains. 255 and 256, between Detroit and Kansas City. They carry auto parts with it. They are the last two remaining Roadrailer trains in North America.
@@bracdude181 why? why would stop using such good mode of transportation
@@danmcclaren5436 Not sure. A lot of what used to travel in these is just moved in regular intermodal containers nowadays. Honestly NS is kinda under-utilizing these.
@@bracdude181 because of cost, the Trailers require they’re own maintenance facility and Age
Thumbs up for the innovation of the design
This is definetely a great alternative to intermodal transport. I'm sure this make easier work for the engineer because he doesn't have to worry about slack in between the cars. He can just start up his train and go.
It’s not such a good idea.
Never knew Amtrak used Road Railer Trailers
Neither did i
Amtrak had,Amfleet,boxcars & Cabooses back in the beginning. Auto Train Corp. wanted to hook up to the Floridian. Did'nt work out.
@@lawrencewheeler8868 Oh I see
Correct. Only Triple Crown Services (TCS) continues to operate Roadrailers. Most of the TCS rail network is indeed provided by its parent company: Norfolk Southern. Minneapolis, Toronto and Dallas are served by way of Union Pacific, Canadian National, and BNSF respectively.
BNSF's Ice Cold Express ReeferRailers and Swift's Roadrailers eventually began riding on flatcars as standard TOFC intermodal, after traffic levels were deemed too volatile to continue scheduled dedicated trains.
3.5 days from L.A. to New York is faster than an owner operator like me can legally do it. It takes at least 4.5 days to get from L.A. to N.Y. legally in a fully loaded truck because of the speed limit in California, the traffic leaving L.A., but even if you left at night you are still held up by the Rockies, weather and traffic, and Hours of service. My Rate to pull a 40,000lbs dry load to New York would include Tolls and Turnpike Fees, and come out to about 7,700, or roughly $2.20/mi.
If the railroad can beat that price, I fear we are looking at the extinction of the OTR Driver.
Good points. The sweet spot for rail intermodal is beyond 600 mi, maybe less. Beyond 600 mi, trucks can't compete. Inside the 600 mi, trucks can compete and win. But there are efforts on the railroads part to create inland ports. These ports will be well INSIDE the 600 mi trucker dominated area.
Awesome! Triple Crown alright and Conrail engines alright! I had to look up on Google how they put the trailers together! Fascinating piece of rail kit. I think Schneider use them too. Great video from 'The Vault' 😎🏆3×👑
Swift plus CSX... Let the fun begin!
Amtrak still uses Road Railers on some of their passenger trains, depending on which train uses it. Swift no longer uses them and the Ice Cold Express trailers are seen with the connection tongues torch off. It would be reasonable for other trucking companies to utilize this setup.
None of them do anymore. Amtrak lost the mail contract in 2004.
Been there done that 😎 even opened many of Amtrak’s yards too .
Not to far from where I live, NS has a yard where they put there RoadRailers together. Trains there are pretty long and it's kinda funny how SWIFT and Amtrak no longer use these
125 cars is max length
@@jibblesq Only Norfolk Southern now hauls the Trailers
@@BNSFTrains10 I'm well aware. I used to be a roadrailer mechanic, and I also inspected the train before it departed the yard. I worked out if the Melvindale yard in Michigan.
Swift trailers are MUCH safer with flanged wheels under them... :-)
Stevie Wonder Institute For Trucking= SWIFT! LOL
@@lawrencewheeler8868 That one I love! I thought it was Sure Wish It's a Faster Truck!
2:19 wow i love this woman
i was looking for this
thanks
A nightmare for the modern hobo. Nowhere to ride on these things. Lol
This is ONE EXCELLENT IDEA !
Moving freight by train is the best way because costs are lower due to less friction, but trucks are best for delivery, so this is the best way to move cargo when diesel is over $10 per gallon, something that we have not gotten to yet, but will soon.
+Willilly Bab
*Swift* and BNSF's *Ice Cold Express* canceled their roadrailer service many years ago. *Triple Crown* announced the end of their roadrailer service network in 2015. All that remains is a single Detroit-Kansas City Triple Crown roadrailer dedicated auto parts train operated by Norfolk Southern. Dedicated roadrailer trains have practically been rendered obsolete, and even traditional TOFC piggyback intermodal is waning considerably with each passing year. Double stacked intermodal container service has achieved critical mass, and its economies of scale have become too attractive to ignore from a cost, profit margin, and flexibility stand point, when compared to dedicated roadrailer trains.
The Norfolk Southern Triple Crown Detroit-K.C. auto parts service is the only roadrailer train currently operating in the United States as of January 2016, and its future remains uncertain. Get your photos and video while you can.
There will always be a place for trailers in intermodal service - particularly short- to medium-haul intermodal opportunities. The big question is will the railroads be able to capture these opportunities when they open up?
Costs are low because less friction 😂😂😂
I was a mechanic at triple crown a long time ago. These trailers get beat to shit by the railroad.
I love the Triple Crown road railer semi trailers mark IV
0:01 nice
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Wow nice video, Roadrailers are soooooooooooo cool.
i love this video
I loaded a couple of these where I work at FedEx Ground! 😁
good video and program
I have never seen this in western Canada
Be happy!
I’m gonna laugh if I see the trailer number on one of these is the same as I’m pulling today.
I think that the current management of Norfolk Southern Corporation needs to rethink getting rid of these Triple Crown Road-Railer Trailers and Trains! They should have new 53 Foot Road Railer Vans constructed and new Bogey Wheels constructed to pull more of these. All the ones abolished need to be restored to service. With fuel prices on the rise for the over the road truckers driving rigs on the interstate and more and more people out there that don’t want to work for a living crowding up the damn highways, these Triplecrown trains would definitely ease transportation of goods to distant destinations.
It was not just *Norfolk Southern* that decided to move on from Roadrailers, it was virtually *all* rail operators... across the globe. By the 20-teens (2013-ish), double-stacked domestic 53' intermodal containers had reached enough critical mass and ubiquity in North America to eliminate the cost savings that Roadrailers had once enjoyed. The streamlining of steel wheel interchange through and around important eastern-western railroad interchange points like Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, Memphis, New Orleans, and St. Louis, has resulted in double-stack 53' domestic intermodal container shipping as both a *faster* _and_ *less expensive* alternative that was also more flexible than Triple Crown Services' (TCS) hub-and-spoke Roadrailer network, where *all* TCS trains converged in Fort Wayne each night for interchange. In addition, *Wabash National* who holds the patent on the Roadrailer bogies and air ride system, and owns the copyright on the name _RoadRailer,_ decided to quit manufacturing this equipment years ago due to lack of sales, and finally removed RoadRailers from their catalog around 2019. Unfortunately, RoadRailer demand from international export customers in South America, Asia, and Australia had also dried up for similar reasons. So, no one wants to *make* nor *operate* them anymore given that there are less expensive more flexible alternatives in aggregate.
Amtrak can pull road railer too, well I didn't even notice that I thought they passenger cars only but I guess I was wrong.🤷♂️
Well NS just ended this service using these and Amtrak was made years ago to get out of the freight hauling business by the RR's and trucking companies.
Amazing
i just came here from jaw tooths newest video to see how these work exactly and now i know. 😂
Roadrailers: When you want to turn a road train into an actual train!
Too bad these weren't able to keep up with the demand of Amazon and other e-commerce outlets! I sure to miss seeing these trains all over NS' system.
iLIKE TO SEE ROAD RAILERS GOING DOWN THE HIGHWAY YOUR NEXT PURCHASE COULD BE IN THAT CONTAINER. NICE VIDEO
Roadrailers/boxcars on Amtrak was badass and I was about 2 years old when they had got out of freight business. I wish Amtrak would do this again but the freight railroads were being a bitch about it.
Wow, it's been around since 1997 and I've never seen this, Railer trailers. Closes I've seen is your typical piggybacks
long before 1997. I started with TCS in 1991 and it grew a lot during my time, but for the most part is no longer in use, think one or two small routes.
These trailers suck a$$. The doors suck, the crank sucks, the big air hose is in the way of the crank handle make for extra suckage, the stupid hitch thing that sticks out the front is nearly invisible and just begging to get run into by a semi trying to maneuver in tight yards. The company around here called Triple Crown runs these trailers and they are all rusted to hell after only 10 years. They are quite literally falling apart, horrible to deal with as a driver. No driver likes dealing with these trailers. They're just big pieces of poorly maintained trash.
You forgot to mention the grease on the tractor air lines, which both the filthiest type and almost impossible to get off. 从 m
20 truckers disliked the video
Honestly a shame that these faded out. I suppose containerization is just that little bit easier, but I'm sure that certain corridors can still benefit from it
2 triple crown trains still remain to this day.
Double stack routes that opened up on the East coast and more efficient cranes for containers really hurt the roadrailers. But if you talk with some of TCS's old customers, like GE lighting and BMW they wish they still could use the roadrailers. BMW loved the autorailers, even though they only hauled 6 cars, they were well protected.
@@forry100 interesting. So the double stack was what really hurt Road Railers?
@@danmcclaren5436 I believe so, the road railers were great before tunnels were enlarged or done away with. Also improvements in efficiency of building container trains did not help road railers. But when you talk to customers like GE lights, they said nothing was better than the road railers, the no-slack connections made for a great ride and no damage.
I've probably worked on every trailer that says triple crown in this video. I kind of miss that job.
one draw back I heard is the max speed they travel on the tracks is slower then the standard piggy back rail cars
They run just as fast as conventional trains.
i used to work for a triple crown contractor and i heard one draw back to that type of train vs a normal piggy back/ inter modal train is the top speed . the road trailer can travel at on rails
Me too. Where were you? I was in detroit. Did this shit for 5 years
@@jibblesq what time frame. I started as owner op in 1991 based in OH, but by mid 90's was on outside as a dedicated carrier - Salt Rock Transportation. For a short time had a few guys working in Detroit. I spent a lot of time up there too, including pulling the TCS dust control tank trailer. Had guys leased to me doing TCS work in OH, FTW, Chicago and Harrisburg.
oh my sweet merciful fuck. DO NOT allow swift to be involved in the railroad industry.
We don’t have these in Europe or maybe I don’t know about them.
Richard Bosnak Scandinavic freight transport is different from the rest of Europe, indeed. I didn't know you had them, but I'm not very surprised you do.
Richard Bosnak meh...
Richard Bosnak I like EU more than I like Russia. At least the EU doesn't send you to Siberia.
Richard Bosnak when a society no longer has serious problems to deal with, its citizens grow weak. This is what happened. Unfortunately.
Richard Bosnak I live in Romania, a few of them came here by mistake and started crying instantly when they found out where they ended up. :)
As of August 25th, 2024. Triple Crown Roadrailer services have ceased operations
wondering why one video looked different, i remember the original ones with wheels attached
billfusionenterprise
They used to be attached one single set of train Wheels in between a spread tandem on the trailer that lifted off the rail with air but they were so heavy until you couldn't haul max weight..
Sure you can. You just need some krazy glue.
Truckers hates these trailers, they were really heavy and badly maintained the road portion of the equipment. Throw tweaked frames and expensive insurance and they didn't really catch on.
Was wondering how this worked.
All Purpose Spine cars are found to be the most cost effective method.
Felicidades Por Tener Ese Ingenio Tan Competente
Why did Amtrak stop running roadrailers on the back of every train
Amtrak was made years ago to get out of the freight hauling business by the RR's and trucking companies.
I take it Amtrak doesn't do this anymore.
Lol no
Not allowed, stupid agreement with the railroads. It was good for Amtrak
It didn't work
It still is working though. 2 roadrailer trains remain on the district I'm a conductor for.
How much heavier is this trailer
30 seconds and wiki answered that question.
Donde Puedo Conseguir Un Trabajo Así Como Ese En Nuevo León , México
20 truckers dislike this
only Norfolk Southern.
one drawback : the road trailers trains can not go as fast as traditional rail cars
Yeah they can. Your information is incorrect.
Dead technology in 2023
Wabash Es Una Fábrica De Cajas Secas Ideales Para Engancharse Al Ferrocarril
Cambiaron los vagones por cajas de trailers
Arabe lozano hasmeunhijo Más Bien Trasladan Las Cajas Secas Con Mercancía Sin Necesidad De Subirlas Con Grúas Pórtico Y Ni Plataformas Ferroviarias
...Cory-Beebee.....@..2:19..GUESS i wasn't...only One ...LOOKING ...at THOSE...HIPS...My ...GOODNESS...!?...and you will See HER ..Again ...Neighborhood..PUB"...During...HAPPY-HOUR-..!?...have a nice ..Day!?..
These trailers do not frames under them, so I doubt they are strong enough to do this. They are not built to pull a lot of weight, they are built to haul weight.
They do just fine. They are built to do this.
With the right engineering you do not need a frame. Most of them did very well.
i dont like this cause you cant hop trains this way