Intermodal Containers


A

angelsfanatic

New Member
Hi. I am a newbie to the forums as well as to model railroading in general. I may be posting some new threads from time to time that may have some stupid questions. I just wanted to lay that disclaimer out there for all of the hobbyists who may not enjoy non-challenging items of discussion.

I recently purchased six Intermountain 48" husky stack container cars. I currently do not have any containers for them and I am wondering what the best containers for them might be. I am having an extremely difficult time finding 48" containers, but I have found numerous 20", 40", 45", and 53" containers at various shops. If I am unable to find 48" containers, in which direction should I go? What would be most prototypical? Would a 40" or 45" be too small and loose in the well?

I am sure this seems like a silly dilemma to some (maybe even most), but I am just getting started in model railroading and I would like to do it right the first time. Thank you in advance for any tips and/ or suggestions.
 
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You can put anything from 48' to two 20' containers on the bottom and up to 53' on the top. Just an FYI for most trains you will see either domestic containers on a train or ocean containers and somtimes they get mixed up but ocean containers are usually 40' or 20' as that is what most ships are designed for. Flip through some pics online and you will see various containers on the cars so they dont have to all be the same size.

check some pics here.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/rsList.aspx?id=DTTX&cid=9
 
Actually Eric, if you look down in the well car you will see the sockets that the containers set into. The container will have small pins ar each bottom corner that will line up with the sockets in the car. They should be based on the 20' container. That keeps the container from sliding around in the well or on the spine car.
 
45', 48', 53' containers have the connection points at the 40' points so they all mount together.

A 48' well can accommodate 2 20' or a single 40' (international standard), 45' or 48' (older domestic containers, made obsolete by the 53' cans) in the lower position. Single 40', 45', 48' or 53' in the top position. 20' containers are only loaded in the bottom position, and not stacked (though they can have a 40'-53' can loaded above).
 
Usually the 20' containers are place on the bottom because they are more likely to have heavier loads, thus the restriction to 20'.
My dad worked for Ford Motor Company and way back when intermodal was in its infancy, he was with a team to observe the workings of loading containers. A 40' container was brought in by truck to be loaded onto a well car. The loading tractor couldn't lift the 40' container off the truck. They checked the hydraulics of the tractor then checked the anchor points of the container and all was in order. They tried again but still couldn't lift the container. Someone made a suggestion to see what was in the container. Upon opening it, they found it was loaded with brand new manhole covers.
 
Its very rare but I have seen 4 20' containers on a single car before. But you wont see 20 ft containers stacked ontop of larger containers .
 
My dad works for CSX intermodal, that is a HUGE no no, its against the rules. He said it MAY be possible in an old bulkhead style stack car.
 
Here is one pic I found and I have to see if I can find more.

ondon20ON_Doug20Stark_1996-05-25_14088_zps48349334.jpg
 
The rules may have been different back in the late 90's when this photo was likely taken. Also note, this is a one of a kind demonstrator well car. It may have been specially designed to test this type of loading. Note the grab irons and platform in the middle of the car to allow access to put IBC's on the 20' containers in the middle of the well, something most well cars don't have access to.
 
Thank you for the replies. I have been doing some internet searching and found some container sets based on the information and suggestions from everybody. I may just have to take a short drive to Anaheim and check out Milepost 38 as well...my local hobby shop does not stock many containers. Thanks again.
 
Don't forget the somewhat rare "bulktainer" tanks. I think they are 20 footers.

You can also placard regular containers. Nothing like having some liquid oozing out of a container of mixed freight and calling shippers for fun.
;)
 
That sounds like something that might be fun. I always hated pulling trailers full of haz mat when I worked as a long haul truck driver...now I can actually do it for fun...maybe do some custom ooz or something.
 
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