tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post1303914458998782057..comments2024-03-26T22:06:26.337-04:00Comments on Trackside Treasure: CN Lasers, Five-Paks and Double-StacksErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-8852213307474606452021-01-20T09:30:55.958-05:002021-01-20T09:30:55.958-05:00Thanks very much, Robert. I reserve the right to r...Thanks very much, Robert. I reserve the right to revise, and add more information as I find it. The beauty of blogging!<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-74274557637800075822021-01-20T09:17:11.333-05:002021-01-20T09:17:11.333-05:00Excellent article thanks for researching, writing ...Excellent article thanks for researching, writing and posting.<br />Robert Archerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16192837894697698725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-66132833353380580592021-01-19T19:47:05.028-05:002021-01-19T19:47:05.028-05:00Your diligence is forever preserved here in the Co...Your diligence is forever preserved here in the Comments section, Brian.<br /><br />I have no truck with your research, and I've learned something.<br /><br />Thanks for your comment,<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-9210500769187576252021-01-19T18:28:58.622-05:002021-01-19T18:28:58.622-05:00Hi Eric,
I thought that I would provide some addi...Hi Eric,<br /><br />I thought that I would provide some additional information relative to my original comments, in case anyone is interested.<br /><br />After further investigation, it appears that the five-paks were equipped with Barber S2A trucks (70 ton), not Symington trucks as I had suggested earlier. The truck bolster ends match with the typical Barber profile. <br /> Briannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-62621021041324471782021-01-18T08:58:46.302-05:002021-01-18T08:58:46.302-05:00I do miss the trailers in well cars or flat cars! ...I do miss the trailers in well cars or flat cars! The container revolution pushed them out, and railways wanted full flexibility to single- or double-stack containers on every train they could!<br /><br />As the the 9400-9600's, as teenage railfans we used to argue about their exact model designation. We know they'd be around for awhile. Reports are that they may not have been the easiest to start a train with, but by the time a brace of them got going east from Belleville of west from Brockville, they were a-rollin' through Kingston! Easy to blur in our photos of the times during which they led.<br /><br />Thanks for your comment, Chris.<br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-79129984720903572192021-01-18T08:35:46.444-05:002021-01-18T08:35:46.444-05:00Neat to see those GP40's in mainline service, ...Neat to see those GP40's in mainline service, leading such cutting edge technology, and reflecting on how quickly that's changed. The double-stacks are the modern railway streamliner and the modern face of railroading. Gone completely (I believe) are any kind of container car that isn't some kind of well car. And those GP40's? Still around though now the workhorse of the local jobs and becoming a kind of continuity connecting one era of railroading to another. I couldn't help but look through your rosters and believe that I've photographed at least 9622 working here in Dartmouth.chris mearshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13790754794833979653noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-32297799987203218562021-01-17T13:35:05.733-05:002021-01-17T13:35:05.733-05:00Thanks for your comment, Brian.
I'm no expert...Thanks for your comment, Brian.<br /><br />I'm no expert on trucks, so can't really comment on the five-pak trucks. <br /><br />There was surely a lot of change around that late 80's-early 90's era. Let's not forget the considerable engineering and cost of adding walkways with railings to every trestle and bridge that would see cabooseless trains. Also, the powerful lure of true run-through cross-border commerce via Southwestern Ontario. Mix in the cost savings of stacking two containers over a mile of train. As usual, the Canadian railways cautiously followed their American prototypes - I remember seeing that cabooseless Conrail train in 1984 and I thought - OK, where's the rest of the train?<br /><br />It truly is shocking to envisage Lasers trailed by cabooses. That actually happened.<br /><br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-372955869775302424.post-21438592163238275032021-01-17T13:12:07.324-05:002021-01-17T13:12:07.324-05:00An interesting article, Eric. Even though double ...An interesting article, Eric. Even though double stack container traffic is commonplace now, it’s interesting how the railways approached this new way of doing business in the 1980s and into the 1990s. I would imagine there was some reluctance toward double stacks because of the significant capital costs of the specialized equipment. If the double stack business model didn’t work, the railways would have spent a significant amount of money on equipment that would be no more useful than regular intermodal flatcars. <br /><br />As you said, double stacks weren’t really operating in the west until around 1989. The railways were well on their way toward eliminating cabooses by then. So, I don’t really associate the two, unlike your observations from 1985. It just shows how much railroading was changing during the decade. <br /><br />From the close-up pictures, it looks like Symington 70 ton trucks were used on the five-paks. Would you happen to know if that was in fact the case? <br /><br />I’m quite sure that those Laser containers would never again look as white as they did in October 1990. <br /><br />Briannoreply@blogger.com