Roadrailer

RoadRailerswere atrailerorsemi-trailerthat could be hauled on roads by atractor unitand then by way of afifth wheel coupling,operate in aunit trainon railway lines. The RoadRailer system allowed trailers to be pulled by locomotives without the use offlatcars,instead attaching trailers directly tobogies.

Overview

Side view of a Roadrailer's dedicatedregular truckshowing the connection between twotrailer bodies.This image shows only onefifth wheel.

Northbound Roadrailer atFields,July 1998

The advantage of using roadrailers was their ability to be used directly behind other freight (or even passenger) equipment without the use of trailerflatcars.

Roadrailers first appeared onAmerican railroadsin the 1950s. Thetrailerswere built with integrated railroadwheelsetsthat could be lowered into position when the trailer was pulled behind a train. More modern roadrailers did not include integrated railroad wheels, but rode onregular trucksthat do double-duty, having served as articulation points between multiple trailers in a train. Each regular truck is equipped with onefifth wheelat one end and a connector plate at the other end. The connector plate slid into a female receptacle on the rear of the trailer in front and was secured with a steel pin. At the head of a Road Railer train there was an adaptor truck equipped with one fifth wheel and one regularAARType "E" orType "F"automatic coupler.Each semi-trailer had oneking pinat each end. Because the truck (bogie) was significantly lighter than a railflatcarorwell-car,roadrailer freight trains were much lighter and therefore were more energy efficient than traditional intermodal trains.

RoadRailers were built by the Bi-Modal Corporations in the early 1980s located inWest Chester, Pennsylvania.The trailers were built by theBudd Companylocally with the integration of thewheelsetsandrailroad brakingsystem done at the nearby Bi-Modal factory. This was a modern up-date ofChesapeake & Ohio Railway's RoadRailers introduced in 1955.^[1]^[2]The railroad wheelsets attached to the aft portion of the trailer were lowered pneumatically by activating a control valve on the left rear of the trailer. To transfer from highway mode to rail mode, the trailer driver would position the trailer over tracks laid into a paved rail yard. First the operator would activate the valve to exhaust air from the airbags that supported the trailer in the highway mode. In the fully lowered orsquat position,hooks holding the railwheel set above the road surface released. Then the operator would move the valve to inflate the two airbags used for rail mode. These air bags were similar to those used in passenger rail cars at the time. After being fully transferred, the trailer would be fully level and ready for connection to the next trailer in the train. A similar system was trialed in the UK, though the concept proved unsuccessful, partly due to the reduction in load volume required to fit inside the UK's smallerloading gauge,and also due to objections by the powerful rail and road transport unions.^[3]^[4]

Throughout the early 1980s various railroads experimented with the RoadRailer concept to determine if the equipment would be sufficiently durable to endure railroad use. The positive attributes of the RoadRailer were its exceptionally smooth ride, light weight and low capital costs to establish a rail yard. Since no flatcars were involved, no crane systems were needed to transfer the trailers between modes. During one demonstration test a train of RoadRailers was broken down in the middle of an industrial street inPortland, Oregonwhich happened to have track in the street, demonstrating the flexibility of the system. Another note was that a RoadRailer train did not have a caboose, which at the time was still required for freight trains. A box was designed with a yellow strobe light, and equipment for monitoring air pressure through the brake line was designed to be installed in the unused coupler of the last car. Later, ascabooseswere phased out, railroads moved to their current use of anend-of-train deviceto mark the end of the train.

In 1982,Conrailoperated a route betweenBuffalo,RochesterandHighbridgeinNew York State,called theEmpire State Xpress,operated by Bi-Modal subsidiary Road-Rail Transportation Company. The concept was to offer customers rapid freight service that would be competitive with traditional over-the-road service. Dedicated trains left Buffalo and Highbridge each evening, arriving early the next morning. The line was eventually shut down after never establishing enough key customers to utilize the service. In 1992,Amtrakbegan a trial of RailRoaders to carry mail attached to passenger trains.^[5]It was deemed unsuccessful.^[6]

In 1991, the RoadRailer concept was purchased by Wabash National Corporation.^[7]^[8]

The primary reason that the original RoadRailer concept was not viable was the weight penalty imposed on the trailers because of the attached railroad wheelset. This was resolved in later designs which removed the integrated wheelset by having a dedicated rail bogie assembly that stayed in the rail yard, as seen today.^{[citation needed]}^[9]

Triple Crown, a subsidiary ofNorfolk Southern Railway,remained a user of RoadRailer until August 25, 2024. The RoadRailer trains have been replaced temporarily with Trailer on Flat Car (TOFC) service, before transitioning fully to a standard double-stack container trains.^[10]

Users

Australian Nationaloperated Roadrailers under the Trailerail brand

Roadrailers have been used in:

United States- Norfolk Southern concluded service August 25, 2024.
British Railintroduced RoadRailers on theEast Coast Main LinebetweenLondon,NewcastleandEdinburghin 1964.^[11]
Australian Nationalcommenced operating a trial RoadRailer service on theAdelaide to Alice Springs linein August 1990.^[12]^[13]^[14]However a permanent service did not begin until 1993 with the introduction of an Adelaide toPerthservice in a joint venture withNational Railunder the Trailerail brand. Contractual difficulties saw the service cease until resuming in November 1994.^[15]It was extended toMelbournein November 1995.^[16]
Austria
Brazil
CanadaonCanadian National,previously run onCanadian Pacific.^[17]
New Zealandtried their use experimentally, but ultimately discontinued them.
Indian Railwaysintroduced in October 2018 betweenTamil NaduandPalwal.^[18]

References

^RailRoader: The crucial testRailway Age30 July 1979 pages 82-84
^Amtrak Joins the RoadRailer ClubTrainsAugust 1992 page 27
^Further Delay on Liners and Roadrailers?Commercial Motor23 October 1964
^London Edinburgh Roadrailers to Start in October?Commercial Motor14 August 1964
^Amtrak RoadRailers get rollingTrainsFebruary 1992 pages 26/27
^Amtrak concludes high speed RoadRailer testsRailway AgeJanuary 1993 page 17
^RoadRailer rises again from the ashes JOC Group8 December 1993
^RoadRailer hits the big timeRailway AgeOctober 1994 pages 49-52
^on bogies
^"Trains".Trains.12 August 2024.Retrieved18 August2024.
^First Roadrailer ServiceRailway Gazette4 September 1964 page 709
^Bob Brown launches RoadrailerTruck & Bus TransportationApril 1990 page 12
^AN RoadRailer goes into trafficCatch PointSeptember 1990 page 26
^Road-RailerContinental Railway Journalissue 84 December 1990 page 451
^Australian National & National Rail Launch TrailerailRailway DigestJanuary 1995 page 11
^Trailerail Extended to MelbourneRailway DigestFebruary 1996 page 8
^RoadRailer forges US-Canada linkRailway AgeJuly 1991 page 22
^Southern Railway launches India’s first RoadRailer trainNew Indian Express26 September 2018

Bibliography

White, John H.(1985) [1978].The American Railroad Passenger Car.Baltimore, Maryland:Johns Hopkins University Press.ISBN 978-0-8018-2743-3.
Daniels, Rudolph (2000).Across the Continent: North American Railroad History.Indiana University Press,Bloomington, IN.ISBN 0-253-21411-4.

External links

A view of the tailgate end of an Amtrak Mark V RoadRailer; photographed in Winslow, Arizona in March, 1999

[1] RailRoader: The crucial testRailway Age30 July 1979 pages 82-84

[2] Amtrak Joins the RoadRailer ClubTrainsAugust 1992 page 27

[3] Further Delay on Liners and Roadrailers?Commercial Motor23 October 1964

[4] London Edinburgh Roadrailers to Start in October?Commercial Motor14 August 1964

[5] Amtrak RoadRailers get rollingTrainsFebruary 1992 pages 26/27

[6] Amtrak concludes high speed RoadRailer testsRailway AgeJanuary 1993 page 17

[7] RoadRailer rises again from the ashes JOC Group8 December 1993

[8] RoadRailer hits the big timeRailway AgeOctober 1994 pages 49-52

[9] s

[10] "Trains".Trains.12 August 2024.Retrieved18 August2024.

[11] First Roadrailer ServiceRailway Gazette4 September 1964 page 709

[12] Bob Brown launches RoadrailerTruck & Bus TransportationApril 1990 page 12

[13] AN RoadRailer goes into trafficCatch PointSeptember 1990 page 26

[14] Road-RailerContinental Railway Journalissue 84 December 1990 page 451

[15] Australian National & National Rail Launch TrailerailRailway DigestJanuary 1995 page 11

[16] Trailerail Extended to MelbourneRailway DigestFebruary 1996 page 8

[17] RoadRailer forges US-Canada linkRailway AgeJuly 1991 page 22

[18] Southern Railway launches India’s first RoadRailer trainNew Indian Express26 September 2018

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