Intermodal Transfer - What is it called and How to do it?

Hello, here are some questions from a newbie about intermodal. I'd appreciate your any inputs.

If there is a need to transfer containers from double-stack trains to a single-stack train, what is the railroad word for this operation?
Are there industrial practices of this kind? Where are they and how people do it, using some special cranes?

It all comes under "TOFC" (Trailer on Flat Car). I don't think it has a special name. They are simply loaded according to the best requirements of the service and the situation at hand. Most railroads have big cranes, variations exist I'm told on each road. NS's were "straddle" cranes where the flat cars were run underneath while the crane rolled slowly forward, setting down the containers on the cars according to computer-generated workorders that corresponded to the waybills generated in the Freight Office. I don't remember the whole process, tho I saw it many times. It did not, however, take a lot of time to load a LOT of containers. We called TOFC "piggyback" or "pig trains". Maybe someone else can shed more light; I just don't remember it that well.

GF

Taking off the top container of a double stack car, and then sending it to its destination is often called, "fileting" (as in filet of sole, filet mignon, or probably more appropriate for us railfans filet'o'fish). What the official term is, I don't know.

And the shipment of containers without trailers is called "COFC" -- Container On Flat Car. So the term "intermodal" refers to both TOFC and COFC.

In addition to the overhead cranes mentioned above, there are what are called "piggypackers". These are side lift cranes that can pick up trailers or containers, and move them around to some degree. Here is a picture:

http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/da ... sc_177.jpg

DAW

first time trying to post a picture here so i hope this works..... here is an example of an overhead crane i took, and as a matter of fact is an NS one as well



this is a smaller one, only good for 50t. as you can see its very wide, fits over 2 tracks and is tall enough to reach both trailers on the train

That's like the ones I remember on, of course, NS. For those considering jobs in Intermodal, be careful that you are not going to work for a contractor (what WE called a 'scab' outfit!). The pay is lousy and you have no job protection or seniority.
If it is FOR the railroad, fine! If not, you're screwed. You don't even get railroad retirement.

GF

Gavinzou, fileting is becoming increasingly uncommon as most intermodal routes have been been rebuilt to provide the vertical clearances necessary to transport double-stacked "high-cube" containers in well cars. Work is underway on one stand-out exception: CSX's line between Selkirk and Boston (Worcester). IIRC, blocks moving to Boston were fileted in Syracuse.

Side note on the lingo: TOFC can be pronounced "T-O-F-C" or "toff-see". The same applies with "C-O-F-C"/"cough-see". COFC is now used more commonly in discussions regarding the movement of containers on conventional (single-level, trailer-capable) equipment, as opposed to double-stack services. Funny how use of the term "piggyback" has all but ceased...

Wow. Thank you guys for all the informative feedbacks and the picture! Wish you all have had a wonderful holiday weekend!

Guided by guys on the CSX board, I did an aerial recon at Dewitt Yard and CSX North Baltimore Yard. They are beautiful examples of yards with filleting operations. North Baltimore looks like under construction now. Both yards use cranes. The Dewitt ones are quite small, about 48'. The North Baltimore ones are 300-foot biggies. Very stunning at an inland port. I understand this is not a normal intermodal operation. If the clearance issue in New England sustains, there will always be a need of this service to the west of the Hudson River. I don't know if there is any progress at Mechanicville Yard and if they are filleting doubles over there. Does the Pan Am line to Ayer have clearance issue too? Maybe I should go ask Pan Am and NS guys.

Good eye - the Hoosic Tunnel isn't large enough to take high-cube double-stacks, and may not even clear standard double-stacks. Pan Am and NS use Mechanicville to filet eastbound container trains, and "toupee" (double-stack) west/southbound trains from New England. There's a post about it in the Pan Am forum here: http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... ee#p709464.

Cowford wrote:Gavinzou, fileting is becoming increasingly uncommon as most intermodal routes have been been rebuilt to provide the vertical clearances necessary to transport double-stacked "high-cube" containers in well cars. Work is underway on one stand-out exception: CSX's line between Selkirk and Boston (Worcester). IIRC, blocks moving to Boston were fileted in Syracuse.

They also still maintain a detector on the East end on the North Runner / Yard Lead that tells the yard dispatcher if there is a double stacked container in the train its rare but there have been a few times when a whole train had to stop and back up back into the yard to have a container un-stacked so that the train could meet the height requirements on the Boston Line.

mtuandrew wrote:Good eye - the Hoosic Tunnel isn't large enough to take high-cube double-stacks, and may not even clear standard double-stacks. Pan Am and NS use Mechanicville to filet eastbound container trains, and "toupee" (double-stack) west/southbound trains from New England. There's a post about it in the Pan Am forum here: http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... ee#p709464.

There is a "clearance route" on the PAS which has been cleared for one high-cube and one standard container, but not for two high-cube containers. You will sometimes hear on the radio the crew and the dispatcher discussing whether the train needs to run on the clearance route or not. The operation in Mechanicville has not started yet, from how things look right now they will open some time early next year. As such, the Ayer section runs from Chicago prefileted.