RoadRailer

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RoadRailer

Рет қаралды 75,885

Күн бұрын

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.
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Пікірлер: 173

@RustyRail-Productions 2 жыл бұрын

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.

@maxdelacruz8060 2 жыл бұрын

Did you work in Saddle Brook?

@RustyRail-Productions 2 жыл бұрын

@@maxdelacruz8060 No i worked at the Tinton Falls building in Monmouth County

@TheWoahGold 2 жыл бұрын

I’m a tractor trailer driver for UPS and we HATE the retired roadrailers. The ones you see UPS using were bought by a leasing company (I think Milestone) and they are very poorly maintained.

@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren 2 жыл бұрын

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.

@RailRide 2 жыл бұрын

"Amtrak Freight" was the initial name I gave to a model-train video I posted many years ago of an O-gauge Amtrak train configured like the 3 Rivers -- a half-dozen or so material handling cars, four Amfleets, a pair of Amtrak-branded boxcars, then about a dozen Roadrailers.

@mattmoschkau84 2 жыл бұрын

NS intended to kill the service, but chose to finish out the Ford contract to KC. Once that’s done they will be gone!

@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren 2 жыл бұрын

@@mattmoschkau84 Typical.

@mattmoschkau84 2 жыл бұрын

@@Thunderbolt_1000_Siren I’m not sure NS really had a choice. To my knowledge wabash National the trailer manufacture and roadrailer trademark owner has decided to quit making them a couple years ago. So what NS has is the last of them and they can’t be used in auto service after ten years. They may have another 2-3 years before they’re guaranteed to be salvaged.

@williamerazo3921 Жыл бұрын

Yup

@mikeblatzheim2797 2 жыл бұрын

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.

@williamadams7865 2 жыл бұрын

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.

@AmbianEagleheart 2 жыл бұрын

Pacific National using them on East - West transcon route, rather than Melbourne - Brisbane (and trucking into Queensland - avoiding QR narrow gauge) has to be one of if not the dumbest decision they ever made.

@nathancorcoran5347 2 жыл бұрын

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.

@IndustrialParrot2816 2 жыл бұрын

their not practical it just makes more sense to have the intermodel trains as they handle like a normal trains as all equipment needs to be up to AAR standards

@boggy7665 2 жыл бұрын

The all-in-one pieces are limited in length too, because they have to be very robust to handle the push-pull forces yet have to keep weight down to meet the weight limit for roadgoing trailers of container+cargo.

@jerrykinnin7941 2 жыл бұрын

They were a good idea but for heavy freight the tare weight is too great. 44 to 45,000 lbs is what a OTR truck can haul the Triple crowns couldn't do that. I remember seeing these but never pulled them. I'm an intermodal trucker now. running out of Cincinnati. NS Gest still runs both ToFC and CoFC trains But NS Sharon and CSX only run CoFC rail freight is an interesting racket. Been doing it for 9 yrs now. Love it.

@TheRuralUrbanist 2 жыл бұрын

Your content just keeps getting better! Keep it up!

@ConRob_The_Gunzel 2 жыл бұрын

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!

@traintalkproductions5934 2 жыл бұрын

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.

@Pensyfan19 2 жыл бұрын

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

@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory 2 жыл бұрын

so did trailers on flatcars The C&LE attempted it in the 1930s but it wasn't successful. The cranes are in a field somewhere, likely gone now.

@JessicaKasumi1990 2 жыл бұрын

@@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory This is true. Dr. Thomas Conway and his C&LE were ahead of the game.

@NorthWARail 2 жыл бұрын

Hey I know you your someone on seaboard railfans discord server

@rodsmith3911 2 жыл бұрын

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.

@AmtrakFlareon 2 жыл бұрын

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

@theconrailgamemaker4176 2 жыл бұрын

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

@690_5 2 жыл бұрын

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

@JackCarsonsRailroadVideos 2 жыл бұрын

You never fail to deliver amazing videos. well done

@railfangarrett6313 2 жыл бұрын

There use to be a roadrailer facility here In Texas located in Saginaw. The train ran from Saginaw to Kansas city and it often had NS power

@watermel0n-5oda 7 күн бұрын

August 12, 2024: Norfolk Southern has announced that the RoadRailer service will be officially ending in favor of standard container trains. Trains 255 and 256 will depart for the last time on August 24-25. RIP RoadRailer, 1952 - 2024

@PaulFisher 2 жыл бұрын

I have fond memories of routinely seeing (and getting stuck by) Triple Crown unit trains on the now-CSX line that separates Lockland and Wyoming, Ohio (running north out of Cincinnati). They were quite unlike anything else on the rails! The forty-foot intermodal container brings its own efficiencies and has a certain beauty for its ubiquitous role in global commerce, but there’s something about those densely-packed semitrailers, each pair sharing a single bogie, that I miss. And the Triple Crown logo is a nice piece of graphic design. (I am a simple man, give me Helvetica Black with a red accent and I am happy.)

@ThunderTrain2930 2 жыл бұрын

I remember a few years ago like maybe a mile or so outside of Temple PA, heading eastbound was one of those triple crown trains, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen trailers transported like that up until then

@Nurvington 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome video. Amtrak was hauling RoadRailers until mid 2004 from what I can remember. They were on the backs of the trains I worked from Philadelphia to Washington Savannah and Miami.

@kibashisiyoto6771 2 жыл бұрын

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.

@jourdanshepard31 Жыл бұрын

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.

@clonecommando-cn6bo 2 жыл бұрын

Road railers are fascinating. They are great for specific types of freight I am amazed to see them in N scale

@Tolono 2 жыл бұрын

This was a very well done video. I'll add that Triple Crown's website still shows a map of routes from before it was narrowed down to that one bold line in 2016 or so. It's rumored that the route is being kept alive by a Ford plant in Detroit receiving auto parts and will stop if that plant ever closes or changes shipping methods. When the plant shut down for a few months during covid the roadrailers actually stopped, many thought for the last time, then started again when the plant reopened. Go see the roadrailers while you still have the chance. It's one each way once each day and I'm told if they're running on schedule (which is rarely) they'll meet each other around Milmine or Bement IL in the afternoon.

@sterlingodeaghaidh5086 2 жыл бұрын

The fact they still do this just shows something.

@RHTeebs 2 жыл бұрын

Very happy to have inspired your video! I always thought that this was the most unique piece of North American rolling stock.

@MikeG42 2 жыл бұрын

Good video AmtrakGuy , thanks !

@rodrigoalvesdepaula5262 2 жыл бұрын

Brazilian railways had Roadrailers in early 2000's. These railcars (build by Wabash) were used for international express service as railcar in Brazil and as road trailer in Argentina. This service was called "rodotrilho".

@nekomasteryoutube3232 2 жыл бұрын

I really do wish road railers took off more, because it seems like a nice conscept because than you dont even really need loading facilities anywhere, just need to perhaps make "stops" a little more easy for trucks to get on and off the tracks and roll out on the back of a truck.

@andrewreynolds4949 2 жыл бұрын

The Road Railers tended to break a lot. They couldn’t handle the same forces normal TOFC or intermodal units can. It’s a nice idea but it doesn’t quite work in reality.

@Infrared73 2 жыл бұрын

I remember seeing CN running Triple Crown trains a few years ago. They were definitely interesting to see going by.

@Bassotronics Жыл бұрын

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.

@ikonseesmrno7300 2 жыл бұрын

Ah! I must have seen 255 or 256 when I was in Hannibal. It was totally unexpected & I just had enough time to find a good spot to get video. That whole setting there was picturesque, with the tracks running along the big Miss. Then there's the tunnel to the north that leads to a bridge over the river. Such a cool town & don't get me started on all the Mark Twain stuff. Quite impressive!!

@eric3215 2 жыл бұрын

I worked for NS briefly in the early 2000s out of the Melvindale yard just outside of Detroit. The Triple Crown trains were highly coveted assignments since it was a pretty easy gig for the crew. They were high priority so pretty much nonstop from Melvindale to Ft. Wayne. They were also fairly high speed (for freight in the U.S.) so some crews were lucky enough to get to Ft. Wayne and be able to catch another one back without timing out.

@ikonseesmrno7300 2 жыл бұрын

CNS&M also was an early pioneer of TOFC service, back in the '20s & '30s.

@metalheadrailfan 2 жыл бұрын

I recall back in 2018 NS had planned to can 255 and 256 because of the maintenance and age of the roadrailer trailers, but then they added extra space to the Voltz intermodal ramp for it.

@Souleii 2 жыл бұрын

I will have to double check my local NS line from around here, but I could swear that I’ve caught these Triple Crown RoadRailers fly past and never paid much attention to them. You really learn something new every day. :0

@LJRailfan-Gamer_07. 2 күн бұрын

Guys. It is my painful announcement that Norfolk Southern will say goodbye to the Triple Crown road railer service from August 24th to 25th 2024, ending 69 years of Road railer service

@Egodriver71 Жыл бұрын

Having worked Triple Crown with the NS in the 90s, good history prior to the 1980s I never knew about

@edtierney6076 8 ай бұрын

This video came on my recommended right as I got home after waiting for the somewhat nightly NS roadrailer 😅

@BuckeyeTrains 2 жыл бұрын

Nice video!

@karafaunt4386 2 жыл бұрын

Always wanted an introduction to road runners. Thanks!

@alexlorenz4103 2 жыл бұрын

I work for UPS as a package handler, and at least once a day, I see a former roadrailer trailer at my facility

@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory 2 жыл бұрын

It's also worth noting that flatcars with containers and truck trailers were also tried by another Ohio interurban in the 1930s, the Cincinnati and Lake Erie. It did not work out though.

@JasonTrew2018 2 жыл бұрын

I used to catch it in Chattanooga as 251/252 and I still miss them.

@michaelminton1224 10 ай бұрын

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

@TheWinnipegRailfan 2 жыл бұрын

Great video! Really fascinating stuff, road-railer trains would really be useful nowadays, there are wayyyy too many semi trucks on the roads these days, lol.

@andrewreynolds4949 2 жыл бұрын

Intermodal stack cars are a lot more efficient. I’ve spoken with former railroaders who say they hated Road Railers. They were hard to maintain and couldn’t take the forces normal TOFC units could, and always had to be put only on the back of a train. Intermodal containers solve most of the problems the Road Railers had.

@therailfanman2078 2 жыл бұрын

Great video! The idea of road railers was interesting but unfortunately they didn't exactly work well. Can you do a video on the TTX front runners? Its basically a spine car with only two axles and, not very successful. I never see any videos about them.

@erikgag 2 жыл бұрын

here on europe there is something quote similar. but here pocket wagons are Used. the Trailers get loaded at the same Terminals as Containers. and the cars can also carry Containers. then there is the "Rollende Landstraße" or Rolling Street in english. These are trains that carry entire trucks on Special Low Trailers and the drivers in a Sleeper car Located at the front of the train.

@fairywolf7515 2 жыл бұрын

im happy to be able to say i caught the ns roadrailer train in springfield il in 2020 while working for a contractor mowing along ups row

@josephphillips7052 Жыл бұрын

If the roadrailer does come to an end hopefully someone saves a few of them and put them in a museum so we don't lose this piece of History.

@TransCanadaLimited 2 жыл бұрын

I firmly believe TOFC needs to make a comeback.

@jacobbroosh3386 2 жыл бұрын

Ayyy shout out from traverse city!!!

@nativeafroeurasian 2 жыл бұрын

In Europe there are train carts where the truck trailers can be loaded onto. It's just as popular as sole container transport (but we don't have them double stacked).

@TriGogglin 2 жыл бұрын

Great video, I miss seeing these, you brought back some good memories.

@CentralCanada 9 ай бұрын

Thanks for this history lesson ! Appreciated. :-) " G-gauge may not RULE, But it GROWS on Ya !! " djc'99

@danielcoburn8635 Жыл бұрын

I am fortunate enough to have to wait for the NS Road Railer on my way way to work once in a while.

@tlaloc9624 2 жыл бұрын

I absolutely love the Undertale tracks.

@cliffwoodbury5319 2 жыл бұрын

I have never seen these - this was cool as hell!!!

@linearfusion738 2 жыл бұрын

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

@johnwenzel2003 Жыл бұрын

So thats what they're called. I remember the first time i saw a train of these. Funny thing was that my mind immediatly started comming up everything that could go wrong with doing it that way and that they'd be better off just using cargo containers.

@Lucat_Here 2 жыл бұрын

Ngl this looks like something a kid would make out of Lego for his lego Train layout, and I think that’s kinda cool

@Elliottblancher Жыл бұрын

I know CN was planning to introduce the Roadrailer service on the Kingston Sub. In the City of Cornwall Ontario, there is a loading ramp and yard that was suppose to be used for that service

@rc4lifebnsf 2 жыл бұрын

I remember seeing roadrailers go through wadsworth Illinois when I was a kid. Always wondered what happened to them

@Chiracingfan 2 жыл бұрын

You know it’s a good day when Amtrakguy365 uploads

@Chevy4x4dawg 2 жыл бұрын

Swift trucking had a fleet of road RailRailer trailers. Some had moveable racks to haul cars.

@davidwhiting1761 6 күн бұрын

NS' Triple Crown is finally being replaced with traditional intermodal service by the end of the month.

@snug-fibbage7441 2 жыл бұрын

I miss seeing ns roadrailers fly by my neighborhood, thx for this vid 😊

@maplesyrup6700 2 жыл бұрын

a masterpiece

@jeffreyhunt1727 2 жыл бұрын

Great video, thanks for uploading!!

@railwayjade 2 жыл бұрын

WOW! Didn't think these were still around!

@sploingoo 6 күн бұрын

Ns has two roadrail trains left and they are making there last voyage on the 24th and 25th

@midmichiganemdrailfan.4187 2 жыл бұрын

Cool video I forgot about them I never see RoadRailer in person just stack train sometimes when I go to CN.

@gabrielarambula4465 2 жыл бұрын

Always a great day when Jared uploads, am I right?

@wompwompwomp4579 2 жыл бұрын

I love this because I’m grateful that the only line that still has the triple crown roadrailers is only less then 2 miles from my home

@buccaneerrailfanning1776 2 жыл бұрын

Great stuff! Always wondered what happened to them.

@captaindewd3485 2 жыл бұрын

AmtrakGuy365, id love to see a video on the New York Central System's 4-8-4 Niagaras, they are pretty interesting locomotives.

@adensrailfanningproductions 2 жыл бұрын

Nice videos i love them!

@TankEngineMedia 2 жыл бұрын

These was a very interesting video about the roadrailers! Ashamed that Norfolk southern can only do this

@harrisonallen651 2 жыл бұрын

Revolutionary

@JadenGGvam 2 жыл бұрын

Babe, wake up there’s a new AG365 video.

@milepost26.69 2 жыл бұрын

@planebois 2 жыл бұрын

YAAAAAY ANOTHER COMMENTARY VIDEO! This might cheer me up from Technoblade.

@trainanimator8150 2 жыл бұрын

can you post more please? i understand your busy but i love your content and id like to see more of this amazing content thanks man

@mattevans4377 2 жыл бұрын

Unless they can standardize road trailers and railroader trailers, it's doomed to be consigned to history. Companies love standardization. It's why intermodal took off.

@jimmyseaver3647 2 жыл бұрын

Funny. I just had a conversation about these the other night. Convenient timing.

@cheriehowie3728 2 жыл бұрын

Love the video of trainz to trainz Railroad Sim it's so cool you out did your videos hope you can make a route from Doncaster to were it ends with too line's and flying Scotsman or a up 844

@teddekkerfan92 2 жыл бұрын

I was in Decatur Illinois last week and saw a line of road railers marked triple crown being moved in a rail yard. I thought they were all scraped by now.

@KingSNAFU 2 жыл бұрын

I hope the book doesn't close entirely on the RoadRailer concept. i feel like there could be a place such a concept among retail giants like Walmart and Amazon who have generated more interest in intermodal rail service.

@a101a6 2 жыл бұрын

Please do one of these videos on the SP “TankTrain” cars

@lachlanlandreth9069 2 жыл бұрын

Australia tried the road railer system. They had the issue of trailers going missing and not being returned to the railway.

@Beoxb00ts 2 жыл бұрын

epic

@crazyjoe4247 2 жыл бұрын

Cool

@npk765fan 2 жыл бұрын

@SD40-2 2 жыл бұрын

great video

@Aviator9223 2 жыл бұрын

I got really lucky on spring break as my family and I went to go see colleges for my brother, and while we were in Lafayette Indiana (Purdue college) I got to see the NS roadrailer pass by

@robertdoyle4280 2 жыл бұрын

nice

@mamarussellthepie3995 2 жыл бұрын

Finally someone talks about this xD

@mattmoschkau84 2 жыл бұрын

Wabash National, the manufacture of the trailers has cut them from production. The current fleet is the last of them and I don’t see anyone buying the trademarks.

@Sleeper____1472 2 жыл бұрын

Loved the thumbnail. I always wondered who and what Triple Crown was, as I got RoadRailers in TS as a piece of rolling stock for a DLC. Loved the things, but always heard they sucked. Apparently they didn't at all, worked just fine until something better came. Also heard NS stop RoadRailers in the 2000s, which they didn't.

@wilfred8326 2 жыл бұрын

TripleCrown=Championship or Prize winning service. Has to do with Horse 🐎 Racing.... what Is/was NS primarily by heritage? A Southern RR. TripleCrown was simply put to operate these trains more like a Trucking company.

@andrewreynolds4949 2 жыл бұрын

The Road Railers were really maintenance intensive because they couldn’t quite handle the forces normal TOFC units could. They could only be hauled at the back of trains too, so they required extra shunting. Many railroaders hated them. They were interesting but intermodal containers fill the role better.