One of my objectives in building Version 1.0 of this layout at a different address was to run double stacks. I'd been interested in them ever since I started to see them railfanning in the early 1980s, and I was building some of the early kits for double stack cars from A-Line. When we moved to this house, I reassembled Version 1.0 with expansion, and one of the first projects was to add a then-new Walthers double track truss bridge where the newly extended westbound main crossed Zenith yard.
However, I discovered that two of the newer-style hi-cube domestic containers stacked together would not quite clear the Walthers bridge.
I'm not exactly sure why, but this put me off the whole double stack project for 20 years. Much more recently, Walthers offered a revised version of the double track truss bridge that would clear two hi-cube containers, but the problem for me was that I'd put a great deal of effort into superdetailing the 25-year-old one I had, and I didn't want to repeat that effort on a new bridge. So the double stack project stayed on the back burner.
I simply don't know why it took me so long to realize that much of the time, two hi-cube containers aren't stacked together, even on contemporary double stack trains.
You can see in this photo that the JB Hunt 53 foot domestic hi-cube container is riding on top of the COSCO standard international 40-foot container. I'm slapping my forehead for not figuring out that I could stack containers this way on my layout, and things would fit under the bridge just fine.
You can see that the hi-cube domestic container on top of the standard international container leaves the two together with plenty of clearance to fit within the truss bridge.
Two international containers together leave still more clearance.
The next issue was a lot of work I'd put into a 1990s Walthers double stack 5-unit well car set:
I added grab irons, steps, and air lines for the brake cylinders. When cars like this were new, I had a chance to climb all over one in the now-gone Bull Ring Yard in downtown LA. No way I was going to do without adding the neat details I found there! But then, some freight car "expert" of the kind whose rear end everyone is eager to kiss at prototype modeler meets wrote in to one of the now-defunct mags to say the number on the Walthers model was all wrong, and none of the prototype cars had the BN lettering on the Walthers model. Sigh. All that work. Just another reason to think double stacks maybe weren't that good an idea.
So not long ago I was thinking of revisiting my double stacks and wondering if maybe there was a way I could fix the Walthers set I'd detailed or live with the inaccuracy. For some reason, I went and checked an Excel spreadsheet of double stack cars I'd found on the web several years ago, looked up the number of the Walthers car, and what should I see but that DTTX 72152-72181 in fact carried the BN logo. So the Walthers model is correct after all.
So I learned yet again not to take my first conclusions about things for granted, and definitely take what the "experts" say with skepticism.
I didn't know you were into modeling the double stacks! The bridge looks great and I am happy to hear that the light went on for using a standard and hi cube together to reduce the height to get thru the bridge.
ReplyDeleteYour 125 ton cars look great!!!
I'm surprised that you took the word of the 'expert' to be gospel. Another railroading know it all gets it wrong.
As a CSX Intermodal employee I learned CSX did the lifts for BNSF at
their Fairburn Georgia Yard or Ramp where I worked. Every Saturday the BNSF would come calling with at least one huge train that had to be doubled over to fit in the yard. Sometimes it was two such trains.
The 53'er on top of the 40'er was very common. A head knocker to be sure when unlocking the IBCs (interbox connectors). Also common was the 40' container in the 53' well. Talk about walking a tightrope to get from the walkway to the container!
T.O.F.C. 89' cars were still in service in 2010 and all T.O.F.C. flats, spine cars or well cars so equipped were on the rear of the train. There were a lot of them on some days.
Almost all cars were the same dirty brown color from being in service. Mostly three car sets, some five car sets and plenty of single car well cars. I remember FEC had a big fleet of single well cars.
Very cool post on the double stacks. I’m glad you were able to sort through your clearance issues with the bridge.
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine had the original Walthers Double Track Bridge and he found out the hard way they didn't clear! Walthers sent him some parts so the stacks will clear!
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