? Triple Crown Trailers

Should be for this.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadrailer

 

Back in the 80s they had a few trailers leave the RR tracks before they learned to keep them on the rails.

 

Yes, those are RoadRailers. Norfolk Southern pulls them. I must admit to doing a double take when I first saw then rolling down the track.

 

Triple Crown is the only road railer fleet out there. It was a joint venture between Conrail and NS and now that Conrail is gone it's all NS.

I think Swift in the late 1990's early 2000s had a fleet of road railers riding the rails in California.

 

Yes, the basically put train wheels (also called trucks) under them and connect them together to make a train. That is how the majority of Triple Crown roadrailers are moved via rail. They are some of the biggest POS you will see on the road. See them pulling out of the Triple Crown yard at the NS Rutherford rail yard in Harrisburg all the time. Many times when I was pulling tin cans I had to sit and wait for one to pass. View attachment 74818

 

I'm surprised they can handle that much stress.

 

If I remember right you string em together, put rail under them, hitch a choo choo and off you go.

So goes the theory.

 

Actually the two axle rail wheel assembly is its own stressor. The weight of whatever it has on it just sits in a large hole in the center top between the axles of the Rail truck assembly. Then you have your braking and air supply etc else where.

IF you were God and playing with those real life train cars and accidentally knocked one over, the wheels axles and frame of them will stay on the rail. The body of the boxcar or whatever you knocked over will come off there as a complete unit. Its held in place by gravity only.

 

I was just thinking about the length of the train and how much stress was on the first trailer pulling all the ones behind it. Even if they were empty, that's alot of weight to pull.