PASSING TRAINS PT 34; TKC35 PT 2

 From last week...

A Wheels Clipper 53' reefer, with a Roadway Express 53' dry van on the next car.

A quartet of 28' trailers, with a YRC pup in the midst of three UPS 28' container-on-chassis'. Note the middle UPS box still lacks the "shield" logo.

Another grimy J.B. Hunt 53' container. Note that the yellow background on the logo has faded away; a common occurrence on many older boxes.

500 leads TKC35 through Hillsdale Yard, and out of town, as a pair of gons loaded with shredded scrap await a trip to Wilson Steel Works.

Another FFE reefer, followed by another YRC pup and a UPS 28' drop-bottom.

A going away shot of the Swift-J.B. Hunt-Swift combo seen last week. 

An ESTES 53' container, followed by a 53' UPS trailer. ESTES is a new convert to the intermodal game, but they have a fleet of 53' containers to compliment their fleet of trailers.

 Next week, the end of TKC35.

PASSING TRAINS PT 34; TKC35 PT 1

A train comes around the curve into Hillsdale Yard...

It is a short TKC35, the Trenton, N.J. -Kansas City intermodal, led by ET44AC 500, the Breast Cancer Awareness unit.

TKC35 has a mix of trailers and containers, including this FFE reefer.

An orange Schneider National trailer, followed by a red HUB Group container.

A Swift reefer, decorated to honor military veterans, is one of two Swift units seen here; the other being a container, with a J B Hunt box between them.

The Swift container's lettering is starting to fade and wear off, as it rides a typically grimy spine car.

Another red HUB Group container, followed by a UPS 28' container-on-chassis and an Arnold Trucking trailer. This entire train is made up of spine cars, as we'll see next week, with more of TKC35.

TOWN LIFE PT 20; TRUCKS

A SAIA rig leaves town, after making a stop at KIDCO, Inc., the new name of the internet retailer downtown.
 

A new family is moving into Hillsdale! A Wheaton moving van rolls into town.

The stretch frame "flamed-out" semi, now reefer-equipped, leaves after visiting the dairy plant.

A Peterbilt 389 pulls a Hapag-LLoyd 40' container on a chassis, headed for KIDCO's warehouse.

A Navy Exchange semi, with a trailer wrapped to advertise the upcoming Army-Navy football game, also heads downtown. A new shoe manufacturer, TMH (Ten Mile Hike) has taken over in one of the old warehouses. Founded by a trio of Vets, they are now making combat boots and "Boondockers" (the Navy equivalent) under contract to the U.S. military.

And , speaking of the military, a short string of DODX flatcars carrying refurbished Bradley armored fighting vehicles sits in Hillsdale Yard, awaiting delivery to their new unit.

And with that, I say Happy Veteran's Day (Friday) to my fellow vets!

PASSING TRAINS PT 33; KCT35 PT 2

 The conclusion of KCT35...

A rare car, but still seen during the 90's was the VTTX 85' container spine car, converted from a flatcar.

Another conversion from the 80's was the TTEX "Long Runner" drawbar-connected flatcar set. Designed to accommodate the longer trailers of the late 80's/early 90's, this car is an example of a conversion made from two "channel-side" cars, where the second car has had its body widened at one end to allow for the wheel swing of the trailer spanning the two cars. A more common conversion used either a pair of "flush-deck" cars, or one of each (channel and flush), with the flush deck being the second car, thus not needing the widened spot. Like all the other cars in this train, these have become rare today, as all-purpose spine cars and double-stack well cars have taken over. As for the trailers, MS Carriers has since been acquired by Swift.

Another 48' all-purpose spine car, with a mix of 48' trailers -including an orange Schneider National and a BNSF- and one 53' CIE trailer.

Followed by another TTEX paired flatcar. NW Transport is another "fallen flag", having went out business in the late 90's.

A PACER STACKTRAIN 53' container rides a chassis and straddles the drawbar gap between cars. The three 53' trailers is the reason TTX began making these conversions; otherwise only one trailer per car would be carried, instead of three per pair.

A pair of TWIN 45 cars bring up the rear, with a pair of Vermont Railway 45' trailers on the first one.

Another look at the VTTX converted flat. Originally built during the 60's as a TOFC flat car, they became obsolete during the 80's, when 45' trailers become the norm; they could only carry one of these due to the 85' length. Because of this, many of these cars were stripped of their decks -which ran alongside the center sill, instead of across the entire car like conventional flatcars- and converted to COFC-only service with container brackets that allowed any combination of 20' and 40' containers. While effective at prolonging their lifespans, the conversions soon became obsolete again due to the rise of double-stack well cars and articulated spine cars. They were still good for small container shipments, such as military containers and even trash containers, and were often mixed into general freight and merchandise trains.

PASSING TRAINS PT 33; KCT35 PT 1

 In the fall of 1996, run-through UP power could be found on the head-end of several AP&W trains, especially intermodals...

Southern Pacific Dash-9 8110 leads KCT35, the Kansas City-Trenton piggyback intermodal into town.

UP 9575, another Dash-9, follows it's now fellow roster-mate, as the UP acquired the SP earlier that year. The UP also acquired the C&NW, making this time period a colorful one for both UP and AP&W fans!

89'9" flatcars were still in vogue, as they lead the way carrying a variety of trailers, including one with a 53' Swift and a 28' Roadway.

UPS 40' drop frame "Possum-bellies" were also still common, as were CF (Consolidated Freightways) 28' pups, seen here occupying several RTTX triple 28 flatcars.

Another common sight in the 90's was the 48' spine car, seen here with a mix of 45' and 48' trailers.

More 89'8" flats, with both 45' and 28' trailers.

More CF trailers, with an Overnight 28' pup.

The 2000's would bring wholesale changes to the intermodal landscape. Sadly, CF would declare bankruptcy in 2001 and cease operation; Overnight would be purchased by UPS in 2005 and become UPS Freight; the classic 40' UPS drop frame trailers would be gone by the late 2000's; most of the flatcars would be rebuilt for general purpose and pipe loading; and the 48' spine cars -made obsolete by 53' trailers and containers- would be retired or re-built for wind turbine blade hauling.

The rest of KCT35 next week.