Intermodal Ops Primer #2

Greetings All,

Tomorrow's the Intermodal Ops#1 dispatch date and the guys are getting ready. 1:1 Sir Neal has his Atlantic Pacific RR ready to go!
John Bruce has the Los Feliz & North Western all set to go!


The N.Y.C.T.L. is getting ready as I pull out, organize and tune up my small fleet of double stack cars. Let's take a look at the cars and some loading tips for better realism.  

A five platform set of Athearn BB Gunderson Maxi III cars is considered one car as each element is dependant on the other. Each unit has a letter designation. The A and B cars are the end cars and both are coupler equipped. The intermediate cars are the C, D and E cars. The proper configuration for the set is A-E-D-C-B.  

A 40' container rides on top of two 20' containers and a 48' container rides on top of a 40' container. Any length container between 40' and 53' would be appropriate as the top container. 

A pair of 20' tank containers loaded with their control valves facing outward. The 20' containers have sufficient clearance for the valves in the 48' well. They are not be loaded into a 40' well. 

No double stacking for this car! This is a no-no.

20' containers should be loaded with their doors facing each other to prevent theft. One thing to know about shipping containers is that the 40', 45', 48' and 53' containers all have their support structure at the 40' length and 96'' width. This industry standard allows for the stacking of the containers for transport.

When loading 20' containers in the well be cognizant of the height differences between container types. The standard containers are 8'6'' and the Hi Cubes are 9'6'' in height.  

 You definitely don't want this! 

No 20' containers on top! You can really see the height difference between the 20' containers now. 

And no single 20' containers riding alone.

This looks cool but it's a no go. Also note the width difference between the 96'' wide 40' container and the 102'' wide 48' container. 

A loaded five car all purpose well car set would look like this using both containers and trailers. The trailers are in the E and C cars. The all purpose cars are equipped with trailer hitches in each car. 
Terminal Yard looking a bit different today! A look at most of the intermodal cars in my fleet getting ready to be loaded. The unlettered Maxi III cars on the right are a project 10 years in the making. 

Let's take a look at some scene setting for a layout. This is for illustration purposes only. Three trailers are prepositioned for lifting onto the Impack cars. Blue flag protection is in place and the switch to this track is locked closed.

Trailers are spotted adjacent their designated car for ease of loading. This is fine for both a side loader or overhead lift.   

A five car set properly loaded with three trailers. 

Loading containers is a bit different with the handling of the chassis that is left behind. When using an overhead lift like a MiJack the containers can be prepositioned. If using a side loader then the chassis must be pulled away once the container is lifted so the side loader can access the well car.

If staging such a scene on your layout the larger containers can face either direction. 

 The 20' containers should be back to back.

Here is a single Athearn BB CSX Intermodal Maxi III car loaded with 48' containers. Note the red marks on the containers. They are 40' apart and 96'' across. This where the cars connect using an Inter Box Connector or IBC. 

And there it is, everything you wanted to know about the N.Y.C.T.L.'s intermodal fleet but were afraid to ask! 

Tomorrow we launch the first Intermodal Op!

Thanks for reading!