This traffic was discussed again here recently. To review, in 1973-74 the Carnation plant in Dayton, NY shipped one or two Seatrain containers daily to Puerto Rico. The empty containers were delivered to the plant on 89' flatcars, loaded as COFC's and forwarded to Croxton by NY-98. The flats were interchanged to HSRR at Weehawken, where the containers were unloaded by the HSRR straddle crane for transfer to the adjacant Port Seatrain. I had commented previously on the inefficient use of the TTX flats in this manner, compared with shipment as COC's ramp to ramp, Buffalo-Croxton. I was thinking about this move on the long drive to Canada, and the obvious reason for this arrangement finally hit me. Assuming the evaporated milk was shipped in cans rather than powdered, the containers were too heavy to be street-legal. They had to be on rails to the HSRR facility, which was on-dock and therefore not subject to NJ state weight limits. Canned goods is a high gross commodity, which is why it is one of the few commodities that is still shipped in substantial volume in boxcars. The canned milk would easily reach the 67,200 lb gross weight limit of the container before cubing out. Container plus chassis plus tractor would exceed the 80,000 lb weight limit (lower on many non-interstate roads). Two containers were within the 140,000 lb capacity of the TTAX or TTCX flat. In PR, the containers were either unloaded on-dock, or the highway move was by special permit. The parties involved thought this was worth the extra costs involved in flatcar per diem and having the HSRR acquire a crane, vs using more containers, either loading 40' boxes more lightly or using 20-footers, and then shipping as COC's ramp to ramp. When the business was diverted to the highway, Jerry Heckman hinted that the move may have regularly violated weight limits. Jerry, can you confirm that the milk moved canned and not powdered? Paul B The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List http://EL-List.railfan.net/ To Unsubscribe: http://Lists.Railfan.net/erielackunsub.html ------------------------------
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