Southern Introduces Its Dual-Purpose Flatcar

With the railroad industry searching for an "all purpose" flatcar that will carry both highway trailers and containers (TOFC/COFC) without extensive modification, Southern believes it has the answer with the development of its in-service Dual-Purpose flatcar.

The goal for '67: The all-purpose TOFC/COFC flat car." That's how an article in a recent issue of a national railroad industry magazine on piggyback service summarized the current situation.

Dual-purpose car with trailer hitches raised and pedestals (left foreground and center rear) folded down to make a flat deck car for highway trailers.

Stretching across the top of these two pages is Southern's in-service answer to the "all-purpose" goal, the dual-purpose flatcar, an 89-foot car whose modifications were designed and installed by Southern's Engineering and Research Department.

The flatcar will handle either cargo containers or highway trailers. A minimum of time and effort is required to convert the car from one purpose to the other, or a single car may be used to carry a 40-foot container or a trailer simultaneously. A prototype model of the dual-purpose car now being service tested has been in use by Southern since late 1965.

Car with pedestals raised and trailer hitches down. No riser boards are needed with car when unloading highway trailers.

Almost from the inception of piggyback service on its lines, Southern has been convinced that the future of piggyback lies in containerization, rather than in the hauling of highway trailers. "Containers require a lower capital investment, are easier and faster to handle over the road and in terminals, better protect their contents and offer a more attractive service to shippers," says W. V. Burke, Southern's vice-president -Sales. "Also," he adds, "containers are a truly intermodal freight package."

Underscoring MI. Burke's words have been the actions of major United States and overseas shipping facilities owners and operators. With a major expansion program underway in both construction of port facilities to handle containers and ships to transport them, one leading firm in the field estimates that by the early 1970's at least half of all trans-Atlantic cargo will be carried in containers. The U. S. Department of Commerce estimates that by 1975 there will be 400,000 van-size cargo containers in use, as contrasted to 1966's total of 10,000 and only 2,000 in 1959.

Pedestal folded down into car deck. When unloading highway trailers, wheels roll -easily over folded-down pedestal which is practically flush with car deck.

Backing up the firm belief in the future of containerization and the further belief that railroads are the best method for getting containers from customers to dockside (and back), Southern now has 63 facilities for the loading and unloading of containers and highway trailers, with 38 of these facilities expressly designed for the unloading of containers, more by far than are available on any other Class I railroad.

The need for a flatcar that could handle both containers and highway trailers has been met by the use of additional frame units installed on the flatcar. These frame units raise the container off the deck of the flatcar sufficiently high enough to enable the crane feet to pick up the container. The main drawback to these frame units was that highway trailers also had to be unloaded by crane as they could not be rolled off the car over the container cradles "circus style" or end loading.

Ralph Chambers, terminal manager, Alexandria, Va., terminal rail highway services, demonstrates the ease with which the pedestal can be raised or lowered. Another feature of the pedestals is that they can easily be raised or lowered from the ground when setting up the car.

The key to the versatility of Southern's dual-purpose car is a fold-away metal pedestal. In upright position, four pedestals support the container, one at each corner with five inches clearance beneath the container for the crane feet to pick it up by the bottom rail. Folded down, the pedestal lies flush with the car deck, permitting the wheels of a highway trailer to roll over it. A pedestal can be raised or lowered in seconds without using tools. The trailer hitches used in this installation are raised and lowered by electric power tools.

The dual-purpose cars now in use are equipped with a hydraulic cushioning device on each end which dampen shock forces exerted in both draft (pulling) and buff (striking another car). The latest car is presently set up to carry two 40-foot containers, or two highway trailers, or one of each. However, the number of pedestals on a car can easily be changed by the installation of additional units to permit the handling of a number of smaller-size contain6rs. The present car has eight pedestals, one for each corner of the two 40-foot containers. To prepare a dual-purpose flatcar for container loading, the pedestals are quickly raised by hand and locked upright with spring-loaded locking bars which snap in place. When the container has been lowered in place on the pedestals, a gravity locking pin in each pedestal is fastened into the container corner casting and the container is secured for travel. To convert the car, or a portion of it, for handling of highway trailers, the container is removed and the pedestals are folded down into the car deck by simply squeezing two "fingers" on the spring-loaded locking bar, releasing them from the upright position. The trailer hitches are then raised and the trailer loaded by either crane or ramp method.

Greater car utilization was the primary consideration behind the development of the dual-purpose car, but other savings made possible by the modification will ultimately result in lower costs to Southern's shippers. Present cost of the pedestals and their installation is comparable to the cost of using current container cradles, however, as the newer-type cars enter volume production, these costs are expected to decrease considerably. The pedestal-equipped cars weigh less and extensive maintenance costs associated with current container cradling devices are eliminated.

Unloading a container by straddle crane. When container rests on pedestals, a locking pin on each pedestal locks into a corner casting of the container to secure it for travel.

Versatility and utilization are key assets of Southern's dual-purpose flatcar, assets typifying the forward-looking, cost-reducing service Southern offers the South.