automotive railcar 101 question

[SmoothJ]

So, I need a quick 101 on the automotive railcar, and how a yard usually operates it. I see they have those car/truck lines, so I believe those lines could dictate all those in that line can go together, but is the order FIFO or is it based on region and where being shipped to?

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[Amps]

I’m not really sure what exactly you’re asking. One of the biggest differences in the autoracks is that there are tri-level for autos, with three levels vertically. For pickups, they are bi-level and hold four trucks on each level. The rail cars are 90 feet long inside the doors. You can’t drive the vehicles out of them if the racks are mixed because the bridge plates would be at different levels. So, they have to get switched into tracks of each kind of rack, usually trying to get all the vehicles pointing in the same direction in each unloading track.

Almost all the rail cars used are leased. This means that the punitive rules of keeping the cars at the facility for more than a few days (demurrage) don’t necessarily apply. This plays out as simply unloading them as fast as they can with no real order. It’s about as likely to be FILO as FIFO. Once the vehicles are unloaded, they are marshaled up for the convoy trucks to final destinations.

 

[SmoothJ]

I’m not really sure what exactly you’re asking. One of the biggest differences in the autoracks is that there are tri-level for autos, with three levels vertically. For pickups, they are bi-level and hold four trucks on each level. The rail cars are 90 feet long inside the doors. You can’t drive the vehicles out of them if the racks are mixed because the bridge plates would be at different levels. So, they have to get switched into tracks of each kind of rack, usually trying to get all the vehicles pointing in the same direction in each unloading track.

Almost all the rail cars used are leased. This means that the punitive rules of keeping the cars at the facility for more than a few days (demurrage) don’t necessarily apply. This plays out as simply unloading them as fast as they can with no real order. It’s about as likely to be FILO as FIFO. Once the vehicles are unloaded, they are marshaled up for the convoy trucks to final destinations.

Thank you for the information on this. What I am trying to ask is if the train will make a direct route to PA, or will it drop off or pick up cars (or rail cars) along the way?

 

[TaxmanHog]

I'm guessing a string of the car-carriers will be assembled in groups, such that an engine(s) 1/2/3 will pull the shipment eastward or to the south or to the west, with groups of rail cars being disconnected at regional rail yards along the route, once disconnected the a yard engine manages the rail cars through unloading, while the rest of the engine and remaining cars travel further along to the next destinations.

Once the engine(s) with final group of rail cars arrive at terminus, they stand by while these final set of cars & trucks are unloaded, then the string reverses course to the plants, along the way picking up all the empties, if they have not already been picked up in relay fashion from a reverse course engine.

Then the cycle repeats....

I get the impression that our youth are not to enthused with making a career with the rail road companies these days, recruitment and retention has become an issue many segments of transportation logistics. That situation has put pressure on these industries to to keep the works rolling and supporting primary manufacturing.

These are big problems that need solving, and not by bureaucrats getting in the way more then necessary.

[/soap-box]

 

[SmoothJ]

I'm guessing a string of the car-carriers will be assembled in groups, such that an engine(s) 1/2/3 will pull the shipment eastward or to the south or to the west, with groups of rail cars being disconnected at regional rail yards along the route, once disconnected the a yard engine manages the rail cars through unloading, while the rest of the engine and remaining cars travel further along to the next destinations.

Once the engine(s) with final group of rail cars arrive at terminus, they stand by while these final set of cars & trucks are unloaded, then the string reverses course to the plants, along the way picking up all the empties, if they have not already been picked up in relay fashion from a reverse course engine.

Then the cycle repeats....

I get the impression that our youth are not to enthused with making a career with the rail road companies these days, recruitment and retention has become an issue many segments of transportation logistics. That situation has put pressure on these industries to to keep the works rolling and supporting primary manufacturing.

These are big problems that need solving, and not by bureaucrats getting in the way more then necessary.

[/soap-box]

What you are saying sounds plausible and pretty close what I was thinking too. The bad thing is that without a timetable, and more importantly a route, it gets hard to figure out how something goes. I was on the CSX website trying to predict the direction of flow from New Boston (where is the vehicle is now) to Twin Oaks, PA. Unfortunately, its not like Google Maps, or even old school Mapquest. You would need to put in every leg of the route, and even though I found the CSX symbols, I don't know the route it will take.

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