Re: (erielack) M&E/Rahway Valley News

[Jedalberg_@_aol.com]

Another aspect of "de-stacking" the double stacked containers is that you 
have effectively doubled the length of train. Notwithstanding the capital 
expense of building a "fillet" terminal reasonably close to the east coast so 
that you continue to get the benefit of double stacking, plus the cost of the 
lift equipment and additional railcars.And don't forget time. DS doesn't get 
you two for one cost-wise, but it is a lot better than the one for one of 
single stack or conventional 89' equipment. Conrail did the fillet for (APL) 
Boston bound traffic at a special terminal in Syracuse.
Remember also that double stack cars are considerably wider at the bottom, as 
well, and if talking about domestic boxes, 20'6" ATR for clearance. Most 
international boxes are still 8'6"(primarily because of clearances overseas), 
so if you can afford the inconvenience of hi-lo loading, you can get away 
with less clearance height.(As a point of interest the Bergen tunnel at the 
east end is only good for hi-lo loading, as is the Waldo tunnel under PATH. 
We hit the tunnel with a container there and turned it into a sort of 
parallelogram.The Weehawken line had a restriction at the DL&W overpass, 
which is why the Northern line was cleared We hit it with a containerabout 
17-18 years ago. Container was loaded with cloth bales and splayed out to the 
sides. Pulled the train back into Croxton, where the BUOI eased by whacking 
the sides of the container. Bet that was some expensive cloth! 
Jim

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