The actual box part of the trailers don't take any of the strain from these kind of operations. The fifth wheel/sub-frame of the trailers are what takes all the strain and are very well engineered/reinforced to handle heavy loads and constantly stresses from road travel. Not to mention the fact the trains are relatively light and momentum helps take some of the stress off the trailers anyway.
The Triple Crown trailers that are still in use today are starting to weaken and cannot handle the structural stress. We have one sitting on the yard that started to crumble like an accordion. Trailers beginning with 467... are no longer allowed to be lead trailers of the train
Correction! RoadRailers USED to have integrated wheelsets, meaning they used to carry their train wheels as well as their road wheels. They stopped building them that way, however, as the integrated wheelsets made the trailers too heavy on the roads. Instead the trailers are mounted on rail bogie assemblies which remain in the train yard.
RoadRailers had two series they used to run - I want to say 911's and 411's, the 9's had a split tandem with the rail truck between the road wheels and the 4's would raise up on the air suspension so we could back them up onto the rail trucks.. The Tongue on the front would latch into the back of the previous trailer. If the lock was open or not fully engaged, a whistle would sound - the same type of whistle the English police would use - a Metropolitan.
For the people that don’t know, there are two tripple crown trailers left 255, and 256. These two run to and from Kansas City (voltz yard) and Detroit (oakwood yard)
Carter Tackett here in Kentucky we used to run 2 north and 2 south per day for years and then it dropped to 1 each direction (251 south and 264 north). Then a couple years ago they cut them off here. Neat trains with no slack but nearly every one had a shooter in it.
Wow, didn’t think those were still around. I worked for Flying Tigers Airline in the 70’s and 80s and this was a idea of our parent company Tiger International. I thought they went by the way side and disappeared.
These are so neat! I've only seen them in person a couple times. I've always wanted to see those things up close. This is probably the next-best thing. Props to the camera person for such good shots!
You were almost correct in assuming that. There currently are only two triple crown trains left in operation. Train #255 operating from Detroit, Michigan, to Kansas City, Kansas and #256 which is the opposing counterpart to the #255. Rare as they are at least they operate almost daily. That said NS is phasing them out so enjoy them while you can!
@@Henry5623 yea sucks for me i live in California and bnsf stopped running them years ago after they kept blowing over so my roadrailer days are long gone lol!
@@GreatLakesTrains they get parts on them from canida and Mexico and ship to Texas subassemblys and engines to north North Carolinas Washington and Texas as well
I saw this same train the night before at the Union Avenue crossing (Doc's Caboose cam), switching into Armourdale Yard. A pleasant surprise! For two reasons: 1, I didn't know the Triple Crown roadrailers were still running. In recent years, I have seen an occasional Triple Crown van on the FEC Speedway route in Florida, but as a piggyback, not a roadrailer, or going down the highway on I-95. And 2, I didn't know Triple Crown operated as far west as KC; I had always thought they were limited to New England and the Mid-Atlantic states. I have seen video subjects (some are in my library from Pentrex), of these RoadRailer trains being by blue Conrail motors. I sure do miss Conrail! If I remember correctly, the reporting mark for Triple Crown Services is TCSZ.
They were so strange to run. They used to go into emergency when you released the automatic. We usually had to either use dynamics or use the feed valve to brake. The other thing was looking in the mirror going over crossings. I always expected them to go flying all over!
I remember seeing Q144 coming into Port Huron, MI on the Mt. Clemens Subdivision and head into the St. Clair Tunnel bound for Toronto every evening. And there was the rare chance I saw Q145 running the opposite way in daylight. I miss those trains.
Used to see Triple Crowns going past where I work in Alliance, Ohio I'm guessing about 2015. It was long but not that long and I didn't count the engines. Don't recall when I saw them last.
They never left to start with. They are simply being phased out with only two trains system wide currently housing roadrailer operations. NS train #255 operating from Detroit, Michigan to Kansas City, Kansas and train #256 which is the counterpart to the #255 operating in the opposite direction.
They've been in operation here in the US to one capacity or another since the mid/late 80's. They are meeting the same fate over here though as well being phased out. Only two trains in the entire country currently operate roadrailer operations. Both of which being Norfolk Southern trains. Train #255 operating from Detroit Michigan to Kansas City, Kansas and #256 which is the opposing counterpart to the #255. The good news is the operations are almost daily. The bad news being they are the last of there kind here and are slowly but surely being phased out more and more.
Here on the West Coast I've never seen that before I've seen single and double stack out here from Needles California. Las Vegas Nevada. And here in Reno Nevada. I think that is very cool I have never seen that before
NS moves a lot of Ford parts by Roadrailers. Right now NS's line in Missouri is shut down do to a flood damage bridge on the Grand river. These probably came across on the BNSF as they already work a Roadrailer train to Ca on the old SF out of KC.
You were almost correct in assuming that. There currently are only two triple crown trains left in operation. Train #255 operating from Detroit, Michigan, to Kansas City, Kansas and #256 which is the opposing counterpart to the #255. Rare as they are at least they operate almost daily. That said NS is phasing them out so enjoy them while you can!
@@Henry5623 Don't know why they turned out to be a dud, They seem to be a nifty idea! I guess containers are more versatile. Although Roadrailers do look like they'd be easier to get rail ready than loading a spine car!
Use to see them on the backs of Amtrack trains running East out of Chicago. Triple Crown went bankrupt couple years ago. Alot of the trailers had the big touge removed and now have a reporting mark of MECS. UPS runs allot of them.
Triple Crown did not go bankrupt. I worked for them in Fort Wayne where their head office was. A friend of mine is an exec for them and still works for them. They're owned by Norfolk and Southern who bought them from North American Van Lines. A few years back N&S decided to discontinue the road railers in favor of containers. However they still run a couple of the road railer trains between Detroit and Kansas City mainly for Ford. Another friend of mine in Fort Wayne still drives for them taking the trailers from the rail yard to customers. These are usually oddball backhaul loads from Kansas City. Most of the road railers were sold and buyers made various modifications to them such as cutting the tongues off. When I worked for them they had 5,000 road railers and I believe that got to 6,000 before they decided to make the switch to containers.
That's crazy, I saw this train as it came through the town I live in, what caught my eye first was the Norfolk Southern engines. Not something I see everyday here as the line that runs through is a Union Pacific main, and when I saw the trailers I was truly amazed, never have I seen anything like that before. Kind of made having to sit and wait at a crossing not so bad.
The trailer is made for this purpose and would not be a normal trailer. Hence it would get the trucker poor mpg because of the weight to b e that strong. I think it is over all a poor idea.
Swift tried this years ago. Used to see them putting these trains together in Portland, Or. Didn't last long. At least on the west coast. One of their drivers told me it was going to put other trucking companies out of business. That was about 20 years ago.
This sparks a lost memory, back in the late 60s I was around 8 years old I think I remember seeing these on the mainline that passed through Woodbridge Virginia, if my memory is wrong they must have been standard piggybacks.
Five engines pulling roadrailers?! I remeber years ago seeing Triple Crowns go by Mill Creek Streamway park (not too far west from this camera) and having two engines. Last time I saw a Triple Crown roadrailer train was in 2014, shortly before 255 and 256 were the only ones! And even the road I watched them go by from was torn up in 2012-ish
They are specially constructed with a strengthened floor and train brake lines. This does make them heavier so their highway payload is less. I imagine this had something to do with their decline.
I was looking for this question. I figured a standard trailer wouldn't be able to support that much weight behind it. The first ones behind the locomotive would be under considerable tension during acceleration, and considerable compression during decel.
It’s a detour train, the power being moved to Kansas City on it to cover outbound trains while they experience their service interruption. Normally this train has 1 or 2 units.
Advanced Approach Videos has a title called "Last of the Roadrailers" it talks about the history of the operation and features a variety of clips of the operation.
Given the fact that roadrailer operations have been in place since the mid/late 80's and still continue to operate to this very day (albeit in diminished quantities) there is nothing sketchy about it. It's long ago proven to be a very safe very efficient way of transporting truck trailers in greater capacity then on TOFC cars. The reason they are slowly being phased out is simply due to the fact they aren't as convenient to assemble into unit trains when in comparison to major intermodal hubs where the same volume of cars can be assembled into a readied train in a faction of the time. The irony being that these roadrailer trains are actually more fuel/space efficient. But because they are different then they, like so many other uniquely different aspects of railroading, are being phased out. Kind of sad really...
@@Henry5623 those trailer were never meant to pull all that weight. I would be worried about the integrity of any one of those trailers on out highways
Alan, the Roadrailer trailers are built with much more strength in the frame than a typical highway trailer to handle the pulling/buffing forces. A typical highway trailer would be ripped apart.
One of the other issues is that the added weight of the stronger frame, components to attach the rail trucks and couple the trailers, and the train air line reduce the amount of weight available for interior cargo by a thousand pounds or so. For many shippers, that is an unacceptable compromise. Also, the concept dates earlier to late 50s/early 60s using permanently attached single axle rail wheels that used a pneumatic system to raise them up against the trailer belly during road operations.
@@timothybarney7257 I figured the frame of these trailers would have to be so much more enhanced that they would be inefficiently expensive to build and operate on the road.
Hi and what a fantastic video 😄 Well done the camera man for some brilliant shots of this amazing train 👍🏻 Tried it in the uk 🇬🇧 it failed 🙈 It’s the only way to move goods safely and economically 👍🏻 Cheers Stevie 😎🇬🇧
I’ve seen this type of train in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1997. It was quite surprising. I don’t think 4 locomotives are necessary to pull that train though.
@@Nieciej They do actually run an air line under the trailers for braking. I believe the FRA requires brakes on all wheels in order to cross a public road. Extra locomotives here were likely being moved to somewhere they were needed.
I remember seeing this setup years ago, but thought the other methods of carrying the cars put an end to it. One question I still have, is brakes. Since the trailers just sit on the wheels, are they able to get air to the brakes. It looks like there might be pipes under each trailer to accomplish that.
It's been about 10 years since I've seen one of these in person. And the only reason it came through here is because the NS bridge that crosses the Grand River in Missouri was destroyed
Voltz Yard is to the northeast of KC just off the Wabash line that runs to Detroit. So why are the Road Railers all the way to the south in the congestion of Santa Fe Junction and the rest of Kansas City. Do they need to run the entire train over the Truman Bridge in order to make the curve back north through Santa Fe Junction and then over the Hannibal Bridge to reach home rails and facing towards Detroit. Sort of using the KCT as an immense balloon track??
I was a trailer mechanic for years... I wonder how the frames can withstand the extra stresses of this configuration..coz the supports are at extreme ends......
Specially designed trailers I heard. Contain braking mainline, mounting point and a reinforced frame to withstand being chained in a multi-thousand ton train. The bogies seem to be also modified, with all the braking equipment inside them. No surprise they failed, too much bespoke hardware.
Part of the decline was due to the reduced weight of cargo the trailers could haul (due to increased trailer weight). Many shippers want to max their load weight (often to the drivers detriment when found overweight) in each load they ship.
Could someone tell us how air is passed along from wheel set to wheel set for the braking system on this type of train? Also this is the largest grouping of this type that I have ever seen can someone tell us it's point of origin to its delivery point. I have not seen any of these up here in northern Illinois and I line within one mile of branches of both CN and CP both? By the way a very nice catch for a video!
Somewhere I have the mechanical drawings for the earlier Triple Crown trailers and it showed how the airlines were linked. When we built the trains prior to being shipped, we worked from back to front, and separated the two different destinations of trailers until the cut-off time, then we used a yard jockey to push the front trailers back to connect with the rear. The whole train was pre-pressurized to make sure all the lines were connected properly and the trailers were locked together. We would also run the train like the brakeman would to ensure that all was correct when brakes were applied.
I still can't get over the fact, that those trailers are strong enough to withstand the structural stress placed on them.
Simply amazing.
The actual box part of the trailers don't take any of the strain from these kind of operations. The fifth wheel/sub-frame of the trailers are what takes all the strain and are very well engineered/reinforced to handle heavy loads and constantly stresses from road travel. Not to mention the fact the trains are relatively light and momentum helps take some of the stress off the trailers anyway.
@@Henry5623 But think about the first few king pin pressures...
The Triple Crown trailers that are still in use today are starting to weaken and cannot handle the structural stress. We have one sitting on the yard that started to crumble like an accordion. Trailers beginning with 467... are no longer allowed to be lead trailers of the train
😲 Never seen anything like this before. Would love to see footage of one of these trains being assembled.
Look at RUclips User “railrunnerna1” and his video shows a Demo of how a Triple Crown car is assembled with a Truck Trailer. 👍
Go to one of the tracks ahead episodes on Hulu or YT, they talk about them there, really neat
@@Uboat65 Thanx for the info.
@@kens.3729 Thanx for the info.
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Correction! RoadRailers USED to have integrated wheelsets, meaning they used to carry their train wheels as well as their road wheels. They stopped building them that way, however, as the integrated wheelsets made the trailers too heavy on the roads. Instead the trailers are mounted on rail bogie assemblies which remain in the train yard.
@@awaiting...His...return Do a little research and will have this knowledge google, Roadrailers. From my research, David seems to be correct.
RoadRailers had two series they used to run - I want to say 911's and 411's, the 9's had a split tandem with the rail truck between the road wheels and the 4's would raise up on the air suspension so we could back them up onto the rail trucks.. The Tongue on the front would latch into the back of the previous trailer. If the lock was open or not fully engaged, a whistle would sound - the same type of whistle the English police would use - a Metropolitan.
For the people that don’t know, there are two tripple crown trailers left 255, and 256. These two run to and from Kansas City (voltz yard) and Detroit (oakwood yard)
Thank you
Carter Tackett which train was this?
This was 255.
There were 13 terminals at one time. I retired from working with Triple Crown.
Carter Tackett here in Kentucky we used to run 2 north and 2 south per day for years and then it dropped to 1 each direction (251 south and 264 north). Then a couple years ago they cut them off here. Neat trains with no slack but nearly every one had a shooter in it.
Wow, didn’t think those were still around. I worked for Flying Tigers Airline in the 70’s and 80s and this was a idea of our parent company Tiger International. I thought they went by the way side and disappeared.
Nice! I caught the same train earlier as it was entering KC. It came from the KCS mexico sub, through rock junction, then here.
Wow this is only the second time I have seen these trailers on rails like this .
Another great video VRF .
Saw that train come through Grain Valley MO on KCS line west bound and then east bound today. Cool as all get out, never seen anything like it.
These are so neat! I've only seen them in person a couple times. I've always wanted to see those things up close. This is probably the next-best thing. Props to the camera person for such good shots!
There is no camera person
What is a "prop?"
It's like slang for a compliment. Honestly not sure where it comes from. Heard it used often enough that I'm sure I'm using it right, at least.
@@john1653 kinda means great job really good awesome exc exc...
I see these P.O.S. trailers all the time. Nothing special.
I didn't even know any railroads still ran roadrailer trains! Definitely happy to see this!
You were almost correct in assuming that. There currently are only two triple crown trains left in operation. Train #255 operating from Detroit, Michigan, to Kansas City, Kansas and #256 which is the opposing counterpart to the #255. Rare as they are at least they operate almost daily. That said NS is phasing them out so enjoy them while you can!
@@Henry5623 yea sucks for me i live in California and bnsf stopped running them years ago after they kept blowing over so my roadrailer days are long gone lol!
Sure do miss seeing Triple Crowns, they are becoming a thing of the past unfortunately.
There still out there and the company is still in business. A lot of car parts and sub assemblies are halled in them
Don McMannamy I believe NS 255 & NS 256 are the only ones left.
@@GreatLakesTrains they get parts on them from canida and Mexico and ship to Texas subassemblys and engines to north North Carolinas Washington and Texas as well
@@GreatLakesTrains the company still exists at least the last time I went though Fort Wayne
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Wow, that is a first time seeing these. Brilliant!
I saw this same train the night before at the Union Avenue crossing (Doc's Caboose cam), switching into Armourdale Yard. A pleasant surprise! For two reasons: 1, I didn't know the Triple Crown roadrailers were still running. In recent years, I have seen an occasional Triple Crown van on the FEC Speedway route in Florida, but as a piggyback, not a roadrailer, or going down the highway on I-95. And 2, I didn't know Triple Crown operated as far west as KC; I had always thought they were limited to New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.
I have seen video subjects (some are in my library from Pentrex), of these RoadRailer trains being by blue Conrail motors. I sure do miss Conrail!
If I remember correctly, the reporting mark for Triple Crown Services is TCSZ.
Erzahler Triple Crown trains used to run to Texas (via BNSF at Kansas City) and the Twin Cities (via UP at Chicago).
@@ZachPumphery I did not know that! Thank you for the info. 👍
They were so strange to run. They used to go into emergency when you released the automatic. We usually had to either use dynamics or use the feed valve to brake. The other thing was looking in the mirror going over crossings. I always expected them to go flying all over!
I wish CN would bring back their train that had these. It was so cool to see
I remember seeing Q144 coming into Port Huron, MI on the Mt. Clemens Subdivision and head into the St. Clair Tunnel bound for Toronto every evening. And there was the rare chance I saw Q145 running the opposite way in daylight. I miss those trains.
Sam Dickenson only time I saw them was just before the train was abolished, they were sitting in Mac yard (Toronto)
The last time i seen one come through Chicago was in 2014 when i was relieved by an NS crew taking it to FT. Wayne. I'm a UP Conductor BTW
First time I’ve every seen this type of set up...pretty cool!
Used to see Triple Crowns going past where I work in Alliance, Ohio I'm guessing about 2015. It was long but not that long and I didn't count the engines. Don't recall when I saw them last.
Used to see them in person quite a bit. VERY impressive at full speed.
Pretty cool thing to see. Was strange to see this set up for the first time while driving through Oklahoma.
Nice catch! I like the Triple Crown Train a lot! Really nice!
Pretty cool. Major savings on rolling stock. Brake pipe, wheel brakes - all there.
Great catch !!! Nice to see that the Roadrailers aren't dead yet.
wow thats cool. i seen this train last week behind my work in downtown st.louis mo
Omg the TripleCrown is Back
They never left to start with. They are simply being phased out with only two trains system wide currently housing roadrailer operations. NS train #255 operating from Detroit, Michigan to Kansas City, Kansas and train #256 which is the counterpart to the #255 operating in the opposite direction.
We had these in Australia a couple of years back. We call them trailer rail. Didn't work very well and was discontinued.
They've been in operation here in the US to one capacity or another since the mid/late 80's. They are meeting the same fate over here though as well being phased out. Only two trains in the entire country currently operate roadrailer operations. Both of which being Norfolk Southern trains. Train #255 operating from Detroit Michigan to Kansas City, Kansas and #256 which is the opposing counterpart to the #255. The good news is the operations are almost daily. The bad news being they are the last of there kind here and are slowly but surely being phased out more and more.
We had these in Argentina too... not accepted.
Here on the West Coast I've never seen that before I've seen single and double stack out here from Needles California. Las Vegas Nevada. And here in Reno Nevada. I think that is very cool I have never seen that before
NS moves a lot of Ford parts by Roadrailers. Right now NS's line in Missouri is shut down do to a flood damage bridge on the Grand river. These probably came across on the BNSF as they already work a Roadrailer train to Ca on the old SF out of KC.
Wow...what a cool way to hook them up!.... I had never seen that before...Great idea!
Didn't know those things were still around. I thought they would replace TOFC and spine cars. Instead they turned out to be Segues! Good catch!
You were almost correct in assuming that. There currently are only two triple crown trains left in operation. Train #255 operating from Detroit, Michigan, to Kansas City, Kansas and #256 which is the opposing counterpart to the #255. Rare as they are at least they operate almost daily. That said NS is phasing them out so enjoy them while you can!
@@Henry5623 Don't know why they turned out to be a dud, They seem to be a nifty idea! I guess containers are more versatile. Although Roadrailers do look like they'd be easier to get rail ready than loading a spine car!
Wonder why so much power? I remember seeing pics of roadrailer trains in the 90's with a a single SD70 or Dash 9 44 CW as the power!
Those must be REALLY well built trailers to be able to pull that whole train through the lead trailer's frame.
i've never seen this before. Amazing catch by the virtual railcam.
Use to see them on the backs of Amtrack trains running East out of Chicago. Triple Crown went bankrupt couple years ago.
Alot of the trailers had the big touge removed and now have a reporting mark of MECS. UPS runs allot of them.
Triple Crown did not go bankrupt. I worked for them in Fort Wayne where their head office was. A friend of mine is an exec for them and still works for them. They're owned by Norfolk and Southern who bought them from North American Van Lines. A few years back N&S decided to discontinue the road railers in favor of containers. However they still run a couple of the road railer trains between Detroit and Kansas City mainly for Ford. Another friend of mine in Fort Wayne still drives for them taking the trailers from the rail yard to customers. These are usually oddball backhaul loads from Kansas City. Most of the road railers were sold and buyers made various modifications to them such as cutting the tongues off. When I worked for them they had 5,000 road railers and I believe that got to 6,000 before they decided to make the switch to containers.
They look rather close to each other! Wonder how well they take the sharper turns.
Thank you for the following-along close-ups.
The last time I saw road railers was back in the 1990s decade when Santa Fe still had the red and silver War Bonnets.
That's crazy, I saw this train as it came through the town I live in, what caught my eye first was the Norfolk Southern engines. Not something I see everyday here as the line that runs through is a Union Pacific main, and when I saw the trailers I was truly amazed, never have I seen anything like that before. Kind of made having to sit and wait at a crossing not so bad.
The bridge was washed out at Brunswick MO...So the used Alt rt to KC then Alt rt around this site and back to the NS Yard in NE KC..
I’m surprised that the trailers toward the front can handle the pulling forces 😯
The trailer is made for this purpose and would not be a normal trailer. Hence it would get the trucker poor mpg because of the weight to b e that strong. I think it is over all a poor idea.
Swift tried this years ago. Used to see them putting these trains together in Portland, Or. Didn't last long. At least on the west coast. One of their drivers told me it was going to put other trucking companies out of business. That was about 20 years ago.
Glenn OK that definitely makes sense, i bet that also raises the price of building the trailers quite a bit as well....
Exactly, i was thinking the same thing...👍
@@chetthejet3896 the original RoadRailers had retractable, permanently attached single axle rail wheels! Talk about excess weight...🤣
very cool. the extra power is cool. usually only 2 locos max. this train runs by my house twice a day on the Decatur to Hannibal NS thru IL
I thought they didn't use RoadRailers anymore!
They still run 2 trains almost daily, Ns 255 and 256 run in between KC and Detroit
Thedestroyer 702 Cool, thanks for that. I had thought these things were completely extinct!
No problem
What makes them so unique? Not a sarcastic question, btw
They are trailers that ride directly on train trucks instead of in well cars or on flatbeds.
I used to see one of these trains many years ago being run by Conrail through Lima, OH.
Y’all are fast. Just happened two hours ago :)
Trucks on trucks. The Triple Crown trains were pulled by one locomotive at high rates of speed. Hi-Ball trains. What a sight to see. Or it was.
I had thought that NS gave up on Roadrailers many years ago & gone back to TOFC for what traffic they had (Mostly autoparts).
This is the last of those trains that still run.
WE Trains was this 255 or 256?
I worked on Triple Crown in Alexandria, VA 30 years ago and they also ran loads of paper board for Mead and some UPS.
Very nice video. Thanks for posting and have a nice day too.
Got several of these in n scale. They look awesome.
This sparks a lost memory, back in the late 60s I was around 8 years old I think I remember seeing these on the mainline that passed through Woodbridge Virginia, if my memory is wrong they must have been standard piggybacks.
This is the coolest thing I have ever seen!
Five engines pulling roadrailers?! I remeber years ago seeing Triple Crowns go by Mill Creek Streamway park (not too far west from this camera) and having two engines. Last time I saw a Triple Crown roadrailer train was in 2014, shortly before 255 and 256 were the only ones! And even the road I watched them go by from was torn up in 2012-ish
Saw this one roll through Blue Springs on KCS' Mexico Sub earlier.
I remember when those trailers had the train wheels mounted to them going down the highway.
Can't believe the trailers are strong enough to take the forces on them. But, they must be. Is there a central spine down each?
They are specially constructed with a strengthened floor and train brake lines. This does make them heavier so their highway payload is less. I imagine this had something to do with their decline.
I was looking for this question. I figured a standard trailer wouldn't be able to support that much weight behind it. The first ones behind the locomotive would be under considerable tension during acceleration, and considerable compression during decel.
I guess all that power is going somewhere on priority. Roadrailers are so light that I’ve only ever seen a single engine run them.
Was thinking same, never saw one with more than one, MAYBE two (smaller/GP) engines.
It’s a detour train, the power being moved to Kansas City on it to cover outbound trains while they experience their service interruption. Normally this train has 1 or 2 units.
Im a truck driver and uhh....this blows my mind.
Sliced Bread Exact Lee
I'm a train driver/engineer and it blows my mind too
Advanced Approach Videos has a title called "Last of the Roadrailers" it talks about the history of the operation and features a variety of clips of the operation.
Ditto
Great catch I've seen a few actually here in Detroit , but it's been a while .
You know you have a Great point with the train being so long that is a lot of stress.
*that doesn't looks sketchy at all*
Given the fact that roadrailer operations have been in place since the mid/late 80's and still continue to operate to this very day (albeit in diminished quantities) there is nothing sketchy about it. It's long ago proven to be a very safe very efficient way of transporting truck trailers in greater capacity then on TOFC cars. The reason they are slowly being phased out is simply due to the fact they aren't as convenient to assemble into unit trains when in comparison to major intermodal hubs where the same volume of cars can be assembled into a readied train in a faction of the time. The irony being that these roadrailer trains are actually more fuel/space efficient. But because they are different then they, like so many other uniquely different aspects of railroading, are being phased out. Kind of sad really...
@@Henry5623 those trailer were never meant to pull all that weight. I would be worried about the integrity of any one of those trailers on out highways
Alan, the Roadrailer trailers are built with much more strength in the frame than a typical highway trailer to handle the pulling/buffing forces. A typical highway trailer would be ripped apart.
One of the other issues is that the added weight of the stronger frame, components to attach the rail trucks and couple the trailers, and the train air line reduce the amount of weight available for interior cargo by a thousand pounds or so. For many shippers, that is an unacceptable compromise. Also, the concept dates earlier to late 50s/early 60s using permanently attached single axle rail wheels that used a pneumatic system to raise them up against the trailer belly during road operations.
@@timothybarney7257 I figured the frame of these trailers would have to be so much more enhanced that they would be inefficiently expensive to build and operate on the road.
Awesome video mate and what happened the truck trailer
I lived 20 feet from a railroad track in Oregon for 21 years and I never saw a weird way to carry trailers like this
Wild looking! Never seen this before.
Hi and what a fantastic video 😄 Well done the camera man for some brilliant shots of this amazing train 👍🏻 Tried it in the uk 🇬🇧 it failed 🙈 It’s the only way to move goods safely and economically 👍🏻 Cheers Stevie 😎🇬🇧
This is DET-KCY that usually run on the NS St. Louis line, that’s detour over UP due Frand river bridge collapse.
Shuttletrain TED It detoured over the KCS.
That was THE most interesting way of trailers traveling by rail. 😊
The fact that they still run them is amazing! There is supposedly one line left that runs them. I think it’s between Ohio and Michigan
Porter Productions Michigan and MIssouri...
Norfolk Southern still runs Triple Crowns from Cincinnati to Jacksonville on the Griffin-Macon, GA line.
They use to run down to Fort Worth Texas but they stopped a few years ago.
I have seen a lot of the triple crown trains going thru El Dorado, Ks. and I have wondered about how they work.
I've never seen a rail set-up like this. Makes me wonder about the radius of turns.
Roadrailers have been around for 30 years or more, if there was a problem they would be gone.
Unlikely to see anything like that in the UK. Health and safety would love them lol
Because of a bridge down on the NS line east of Kansas City, NS trains running east have been rerouted on the BNSF
I’ve seen this type of train in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1997. It was quite surprising. I don’t think 4 locomotives are necessary to pull that train though.
Locomotives (there was 5 - not 4 in this video) are necessary to stop that train when and where it have to stop - these trailers have no train-brakes.
@@Nieciej They do actually run an air line under the trailers for braking. I believe the FRA requires brakes on all wheels in order to cross a public road. Extra locomotives here were likely being moved to somewhere they were needed.
I have these bad boys on my Train Simulator. Really dope!!!
I've delivered to the building you are at. On the backside of it is part of an old Round House.
These roadrailers come thru this area with usually one diesel
The UP one I saw about three years back, one engine, maybe 40 to 50 in the consist...
Cool video, thanks for uploading..🙂
I remember seeing this setup years ago, but thought the other methods of carrying the cars put an end to it. One question I still have, is brakes. Since the trailers just sit on the wheels, are they able to get air to the brakes. It looks like there might be pipes under each trailer to accomplish that.
I miss watching NS 251/252 go right through Chattanooga
Dammmmm that was one long train. Now question for train people I live right by 3 train tracks. And around 9 to 10 at night one just seems to stall
Its been a very long time since I've seen those.
I grew up in K.C is that train going into the Norfolk Southern marshaling yard in NKC MO.
It's been about 10 years since I've seen one of these in person. And the only reason it came through here is because the NS bridge that crosses the Grand River in Missouri was destroyed
So much for catching a ride on this train
NS Loco Man; " There's that guy filming us yet again"
Never in my life have I seen anything like this awesome video
Pretty Darned Cool!!!
Voltz Yard is to the northeast of KC just off the Wabash line that runs to Detroit. So why are the Road Railers all the way to the south in the congestion of Santa Fe Junction and the rest of Kansas City. Do they need to run the entire train over the Truman Bridge in order to make the curve back north through Santa Fe Junction and then over the Hannibal Bridge to reach home rails and facing towards Detroit. Sort of using the KCT as an immense balloon track??
I think I may have the answer..the bridge collapse and a detour. Any thought?
They used to always run through my area (northern Indiana)
I was a trailer mechanic for years... I wonder how the frames can withstand the extra stresses of this configuration..coz the supports are at extreme ends......
The stress on the trailer is immense and the life of a trailer is less than 10 years.
So many locomotives on a Triple Crown, must be power balancing
From the audio, it sounds like the rear three units are dead in tow.
Thats got to put stress on those aluminum trailers, thanks for posting.
How are they even mounted to the train wheels
Specially designed trailers I heard. Contain braking mainline, mounting point and a reinforced frame to withstand being chained in a multi-thousand ton train. The bogies seem to be also modified, with all the braking equipment inside them. No surprise they failed, too much bespoke hardware.
Yeah, but they didn’t “fail”. They were around for 30 years, and they still run them. It just takes a dedicated service lane to sustain them.
Part of the decline was due to the reduced weight of cargo the trailers could haul (due to increased trailer weight). Many shippers want to max their load weight (often to the drivers detriment when found overweight) in each load they ship.
I haven't seen those roadrailers in a long time, i thought they might have gotten rid of those
Apa ya beli jelas
You've heard of inter-modal right? Well this is inter-wheeler.
Could someone tell us how air is passed along from wheel set to wheel set for the braking system on this type of train?
Also this is the largest grouping of this type that I have ever seen can someone tell us it's point of origin to its delivery point. I have not seen any of these up here in northern Illinois and I line within one mile of branches of both CN and CP both?
By the way a very nice catch for a video!
Curt Nicholson Airline runs under body of trailers, connector on each side of bogey.
It comes out of Detroit. Mostly auto parts.
Somewhere I have the mechanical drawings for the earlier Triple Crown trailers and it showed how the airlines were linked. When we built the trains prior to being shipped, we worked from back to front, and separated the two different destinations of trailers until the cut-off time, then we used a yard jockey to push the front trailers back to connect with the rear. The whole train was pre-pressurized to make sure all the lines were connected properly and the trailers were locked together. We would also run the train like the brakeman would to ensure that all was correct when brakes were applied.
I've never seen those. Thanks!
Type in: Tracks Ahead: Road Railers
in RUclips. Full video on this system...
Goodness! This is like watching a living dinosaur walking!
Ingenious idea. Reduces the need for Railway Infrastructure.
How does the breaks work? Or does each trailer already the line built on to thim and they just connect the air lines to the truck assimblys.
You got it. Each trailer is plumbed with a train brake line in addition to the conventional highway brake lines.
Great sounding horn