Former CSX Iron Highway Equipment

Does anyone know whether CP still has the former CSX Iron Highway equipment in service, or has it been scrapped?

I don't know what happened to the Iron Highway flat cars. I do know that CP has been quite successful with their successor Exxpressway (yes, two x's) equipment. The leased CSX cars may have been modified to become part of this fleet which includes some specially built cars and a number of upgraded "piggyback"s.

What ever happened to CP's Expressway platforms?

rdc1 wrote:What ever happened to CP's Expressway platforms?

If you're asking about the TOFC cars, I saw a whole bunch of 'em on CP #122 yesterday.

I'm confused about the entire operation. I'm interested in the service that is or was able to move conventional highway trailers on a train as opposed to reinforced trailers...trailers that are driven onto the train rather than lifted on. CP originally branded it "Expressway", and it was projected to operate between Detroit, Toronto, and Montreal. There was even discussion about expanding to Chicago and elsewehere. I don't live near the CP, so I couldn't see what was happening. I don't believe it ever expanded beyond the original plan, and I never saw much written about the Detroit service. There is one reference I can find that suggests service west of Toronto was cancelled by 2004: http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=94649

Now mention of even Toronto-Montreal service has disappeared altogether, and your previous posting of 2004 is the only reference I've seen to "Exxpressway" service (with the double "xx"). My first posting was about the equipment involved. I'm guessing here, but perhaps at least two types of equipment was involved: "Iron Highway" type and a second type that CP acquired in order to grow the service. Perhaps some of this operation still exists, but there doesn't seem to be any mention of it anywhere.

Okay, that's the same thing. The Expressway service is alive and well between Montreal and Detroit. The double-x is used on the sides of the specialty flat cars but not in the official name. CP's Iron Highway started with a single daily train each way using leased equipment and was such a success that CPR ordered it's own Expressway fleet (which were similar to but not exactly the same as the Iron Highway set). CPR returned the Iron Highway cars to CSX. The Expressway fleet was later expanded by modifying a number of existing flat cars with special platforms to allow trailers to be moved between cars.

The Expressway service had two daily (ex Sat) round trips between Montreal and Detroit, but was cut back to only one between Toronto and Detroit a couple of years ago. The second Detroit train has since been restored. Expansion to Chicago may still be a possibility but not in the near future.

There is more information about Expressway at the CPR Website

Thank you for starightening me out on the status of the Expressway operations. I would have thought that this concept should have generated more "buzz" than it has lately. It appears to just "go" without generating much notice.

Ken, your info about the Expressway west of Milton is wrong, they ended that service long ago and now only runs between Toronto and Montreal with 4 trains each day except Saturday 2 out of Montreal for Toronto (Hornby Terminal in Milton) and 2 out of Toronto for Montreal.

Mike:

If they cut back the service (from Detroit), do you know if they just stored the excess special eqipment? In reading back through the history of this, it appears CP ordered 240 special platforms to get the service off the ground. Ken indicated that modified flats were added at some point. Perhaps the modified flats dropped out when Detroit service was terminated, leaving the 240 original platforms to cover Montreal-Toronto. Perhaps this means 4 trains of 60 platforms, give-or-take, in each train now. Since I've never seen it operate, I'm just trying to get an idea of how it appears. Perhaps I've got to get up there and have a look. Does anybody have the schedules?

trainmaster_1 wrote:Ken, your info about the Expressway west of Milton is wrong, they ended that service long ago and now only runs between Toronto and Montreal with 4 trains each day except Saturday 2 out of Montreal for Toronto (Hornby Terminal in Milton) and 2 out of Toronto for Montreal.

You're probably right, don't get out that way much. I can see the Milton Expressway yard, south from Highway 401 at Trafalgar Rd, is still in use, but haven't seen an Expressway train west of there. I was just going by what was on the CPR website (which I would have thought was reliable). The latest edition of the Canadian Trackside Guide shows 121-124 as Montreal-Toronto only as well.

rdc1 wrote:Mike:
If they cut back the service (from Detroit), do you know if they just stored the excess special eqipment? In reading back through the history of this, it appears CP ordered 240 special platforms to get the service off the ground. Ken indicated that modified flats were added at some point. Perhaps the modified flats dropped out when Detroit service was terminated, leaving the 240 original platforms to cover Montreal-Toronto. Perhaps this means 4 trains of 60 platforms, give-or-take, in each train now. Since I've never seen it operate, I'm just trying to get an idea of how it appears. Perhaps I've got to get up there and have a look. Does anybody have the schedules?

I'm not sure what, if any, equipment may be stored, but both original cars and modified flats are still in use - the average Expressway is around 200 axles with a mix of 4-axle single platforms and multi-platform articulated cars plus two 6-axle locomotives. I would guess about 75 platforms (more or less).
As far as schedules go, there are some on CPR's (obsolete?) site, but don't count on them. The schedule isn't as reliable as CPR claims.

Caught an Expressway (#121) passing through Port Hope ON about 16:30 today and counted 104 platforms. There were a handful (<20) single cars at the front and the rest were the Exxpressway articulated variety. The train was about 60% loaded.

Expressway Trains vary in length and tonnage when I'm out railfanning the North Toronto Subdivision 122 and 124 would sometimes leave Milton with 30 platforms one day (84 - 92 axles) and 90 the next. Other times 121 and 123 will run with a full load to Milton 252 axles 90 platforms. Just remember they do set and lifts at the Expressway Terminal at Toronto Yard so it can change.

The original 4 train sets of Iron Highway equipment that were built in the MKRail Mountain Top facility, were sold and moved to Australia with the idea of putting them in service there. The equipment never was put in service.

The original concept was low to the ground articulated cars. They only had one axle on each end of the platform, If I recall correctly. There was a set which was stored in Albany, NY, in the Cibro oil unloading facility, now Buckeye. This is between D&H Kenwood Yard, and Albany Port Railroad’s yards.

I don’t know how true it was, but someone told me that a former D&H carman was rehabbing them. I think this same guy had some switch engines in the Guilderland Industrial Park. The Iron Highway cars were there in about 2000-2001. They disappeared, and I never saw them go. It may have been because I didn’t catch any Kenwood jobs for a while. Some of the details may not be exact, but as this is almost 20 years ago, it has been lost to time.