Height restrictions in Boston & NY area

[mbhoward]

Hello,

I've searched the forums for an answer to a question I've had for some time but haven't found any answers so I thought I would just shout it out. I understand there is a height restriction on cars in the North East, especially in the Boston and NY areas due to tunnels (I think). What I'm curious about is what, exactly is the height restriction and where are the restrictions the worse? Is it 17ft? 16?

In doing a little research I also understand the issue is a little more complex because it isn't just the overall height that is in question, but the overall shape of a car body. I've noticed some of the tunnels get pretty close when we go into Penn Station but I'm still a little curious about the exact height that cars cannot exceed. I suspect the height issue is why we never see any domes in New England, or at least I've never seen any in the Northeast corridor.

Thanks!

[DutchRailnut]

max height of cars in NYP and GCT is 14' 6".

[130MM]

There is no one measurement that describes clearances in the Northeast. The clearance for any particular piece of equipment is completely dependent on the route to be taken. The general description is that the eastern roads were built earlier, and through existing cities and towns. They were built to the existing equipment sizes. So when the equipment size grew, particularly in the last 20-30 years, that equipment (double stacks & Superliner equipment) will not fit in the east.

There have been three major pushes for clearance improvement. The first was for the original piggyback cars. The second was for covered auto racks. The uncovered ones fit where the piggybacks went. Though there are stories of misroutes where a car load of Cadillacs was instantly changed into convertables. And the last, and seemingly the biggest effort, was for double stacks. And each time the clearances were improved for a specific piece of equipment, the other equipment got bigger to take advantage of the new clearances.

In general terms the east, with a few exceptions particularly in passenger only territory, can handle a Plate C car. A Plate C car is 15' 6" tall. This just happens to be virtually the same height as an F40 or its various versions strung through the commuter world.

As an aside I did ride a dome car from Boston's South Station to Worcester, MA. Amtrak brought it to Boston as a test. It, nor any of its cousins, ever returned. Now, with the wire installed in the station and the overhead bridges between South Station and Back Bay, it can not return.

DAW

[mbhoward]

Thank you both for the reply. It seems to be adding more clearance is a lot of trouble, and must be one heck of an expense. I remember reading about an effort in VT, in Bellows Falls I think, of increasing clearance through a tunnel by lowering the track. What a business.

I suppose if there is some sort of serious rail investment in the Boston area, the highest priority would likely be joining South Station with North Station. After the 'Big Dig', I can't imagine anyone has the stomach for that kind of project.

Thanks again.

[QB 52.32]

Increasing clearances for doublestack has had such a big push because it dramatically lowers costs (and increases profit (contribution)) and increases business for the freight railroads. The first push came about because of Asian traffic coming across the country to the midwest and east coast via West Coast ports. The second wave came/continues to come about for domestic traffic being shifted from railroad intermodal trailers and off the highway from truckload carriers like JB Hunt and Schneider into domestic doublestack containers.
Regarding the Boston market, there is a clearance project underway to bring CSX's Boston Line up to the modern standard of 20'6"+ to about 30 miles west of Boston. Coming closer to the city gets cost prohibitive and economically unjustifiable, as such projects are expensive ($50m for 15 overhead obstructions, IIRC, to get from the NY border to Westborough MA), but is not necessary either as much of the end-users of trailer/container intermodal service are in the outer areas and away from the city itself with the trend continuing in that direction.

[atsf sp]

Regarding the Boston market, there is a clearance project underway to bring CSX's Boston Line up to the modern standard of 20'6"+ to about 30 miles west of Boston. Coming closer to the city gets cost prohibitive and economically unjustifiable, as such projects are expensive ($50m for 15 overhead obstructions, IIRC, to get from the NY border to Westborough MA), but is not necessary either as much of the end-users of trailer/container intermodal service are in the outer areas and away from the city itself with the trend continuing in that direction.

With the closing of Beacon Park, the project will commence to upgrade the height restriction from Worcester West to allow double stacks.

[QB 52.32]

The Boston Line already has 19'6" overhead clearance as far east to Framingham allowing for a high-cube/low-cube doublestack container combination, though traffic only moves as far east as Worcester, since that is the last location of an intermodal terminal before reaching Beacon Park. The Commonwealth's project to now clear the Boston Line to 20'6", capable of handling 2 high-cube doublestack container combinations, from the NY State border to Westborough is taking place before the closure of Beacon Park as part of an agreement between CSX and the Commonwealth of MA. The closure/move out of Beacon Park is to take place within the next 5 years according to transportation officials and is not covered under the agreement except that the Commonwealth has committed to "help" with the re-location (whatever that specifically means is yet to be seen). I did note in the most recent speech by Lt Gov. Tim Murray that he said the 20'6" clearance project would go as far as Worcester, but I'm not sure if that's a slip-up or his Worcester-centricity (he's the ex-Mayor) coming through...the original agreement had the clearance project dealing with some 15-odd obstructions going as far east as the Westborough yard (I-495).