RoadRailer

A Roadrailer train is one of the most unique freight trains that one can see on the rails. A Roadrailer is a train consisting of a locomotive hauling truck trailers with railroad wheels attached to them. The story of these trains dates back further than you might think. With origins in the late 1800s, the concept of moving road vehicles by rail has changed and been modernized quite a bit since the dawn of railroads. From the occasional flatcar loaded with road vehicles, to entire unit fast trains consisting only of Roadrailer trailers. In this video I talk about the origins of the Roadrailer train, some experimental versions, and how we got the modern iteration we have today.

Music Used:
Super Mario Odyssey - New Donk City (Daytime)
Undertale - It's Raining Somewhere Else
Super Mario Odyssey - Steam Gardens
Sonic Unleashed - Apotos (Night)
Undertale - sans.

Links:

[RustyRail-Productions]

When I used to work for UPS in the warehouse in New Jersey, I saw a few old Triple Crowns in the yard and some still had the Conrail logo but it had faded from age.

[Thunderbolt__Siren]

Surprised NS hasn't killed it yet with their "precision schedule railroading" Also fun fact Amtrak's Three Rivers was often called "Amtrak's freight train" due to the majority of the consist being road railers and MHC boxcars.

[mikeblatzheim]

Something very similar was trialled in Europe in the late 1990s, called 'Kombirail'. The expense of strengthening standard trailers as well as the complicated formation of consists caused it to fail. These days almost all trailers are carried in so-called 'pocket wagons', which can be loaded with both trailers and standard containers of various sizes. The loading happens at intermodal terminals and with the same type of equipment used to load containers, so loading a trailer is a matter of a few seconds. As this requires specialised equipment there are also some cars in use where the pocket the trailer sits in can be rotated independently of the car, so that trailers can simply be driven on and off simultaneously. However these are quite rare and a relatively recent development.

[TheRuralUrbanist]

Your content just keeps getting better! Keep it up!

[ConRob_The_Gunzel]

RoadRailers are defiantly a very interesting and fascinating concept. In Australia we had a very similar or identical version of this train called "Trailerail", but that never took off well and after a couple of years it was phased out with conventional intermodal containers on five-pack articulated wagons. Great video btw!

[Bassotronics]

Funny thing is, of the decades I’ve seen trains I never knew about these nor I have seen them in person. And I live near a freight yard. All trailers here are mounted on either regular flat cars, piggie back style flat cars or the 3 to 5 car intermodal systems.

[williamadams]

It is worth mentioning that the RoadRailer concept made it to Australia as well. The former Australian National introduced RoadRailers around 1988 and, after passing to National Rail in the mid 1990’s, continued to be used under the TrailerRail branding until c.2009-2010.

[jourdanshepard]

Saw my first RoadRailer train in 1998 right after NS Acquired CONRAIL Passing through Charlotte, N.C. I’ve been a fan ever since then.

[nathancorcoran]

These are a lot of cool stories of the RoadRailer. The truck trailers being used on a railroad without needing a flat car, with railroad wheels by road wheels. It is a shame that most railroads discontinued them, at least Norfolk Southern still uses RoadRailers. I have went to two Colorado train rides today. The Georgetown Loop Railroad and the Colorado Railroad Museum.

[traintalkproductions]

These trains have always had a special place in my heart. I used to see them all the time from the backyard of my great aunt’s house on the former Wabash. They still pass by daily, but early in the morning.

[michaelminton]

I remembered watching a couple of those while in Sandusky, OH in the late 1990's and it was interesting.

[_]

I'm a truck driver: I'm damn glad we use standard shipping containers now.

[AmtrakFlareon]

Ive always wanted you to talk about these awesome cars. Nice job Jared!

[linearfusion]

I love the music, and Information (but the music is lovely)

[theconrailgamemaker]

I was literally watching Engines of Amtrak when I saw this dropped.

[Pensyfan]

Great video as always. Never knew that road railers started on an interurban railway.

[rodsmith]

We had road railers in the UK years ago as part of the BR modernisation plan. Biggest drawback was the extra weight of the rail wheel assembly which cut the payload down. It was a good idea but too complicated to compete with containers which came in at the same time and were more versatile as they can go anywhere by rail, road, sea and air with only the weight of the container to carry.

[JackCarsonsRailroadVideos]

You never fail to deliver amazing videos. well done

[kibashisiyoto]

Back in the 1980's I was a cost analyst at Southern Pacific. D.K. McNear posed the question - what are the relative costs of the different intermodal technologies - TOFC/COFC, Six Pack, Double Stack, and Road Railer. I also added boxcar to the mix - a boxcar that weighed out (our 52' boxcars @ 70 tons) and boxcars that cubed out at 86' and 75 tons. Basically, the interesting point was that Reebie had priced the Road Railers above the per pound of tare weight cost of both over the highway trailers and railroad cars - when you would think that the Road Railer cost per pound of tare weight would fall somewhere in between, since it was a blend of the two technologies. When I ran the operating costs, it all the sudden became obvious to me - Reebie was taking all the cost savings for the BiModal Corporation. He had priced it a little too well, SP chose to go with the double stack technology.

[CentralCanada]

Thanks for this history lesson ! Appreciated. :-)




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