Jehiah
๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐
Meercat โ
โจ
TransitBiker
@richh has moved
PalmAndNeedle@richh @straphanger Yes, apparently just like that. With regular container stackers. Under catenary. With care. https://youtu.be/TcZ1EnKnQiU
Which is not common practice to my knowledge. Most every other container rail is locomotive powered, and terminals don't have catenary in the loading area.
๏ผช๏ผฒ่ฒจ็ฉใปๅฎๆฒปๅท่ฒจ็ฉ้ง ๏ผใใใใชใใฟใผๅฎๆผ๏ผ
@straphanger It's also an absolute paradise bird of a niche solution. Built twenty years ago in a series of 2 sets of 16 cars. 42 cars in total with spares, according to wikipedia. Carrying... 31ft containers? Very extra.
So that's about... 16 minus four times two plus four times two thirds... 18TEU per set. Wow.
The whole fleet is under 50TEU. Or 25 semis.
For comparison, a single average double stack intercontinental freight in the US might carry a cool 400TEU. A whole order of magnitude.
@straphanger The fact that this apparently has stayed a two car series, built 20 years ago, should give some indication how widely applicable this concept is. Not.
Oh, and then theres the small fact that BNSF et all send these things through the desert at or above that same speed: 70mph in freedom units, or 112.6kmh. And with three times that length at the extreme end. 15000ft. 1200TEU.
ENORMOUS 15,000 FT HIGH SPEED BNSF Intermodal Double Stack Freight Trains In The California Desert 1
@straphanger All this to say that fast intermodal traffic, which the US rail sector has a vastly higher share of than Japan or Europe, is not the problem.
So a weird niche solution parcel train that's integrated power only to have fast acceleration to be able to hang with EMUs on a comparatively tiny, high density network with lots of short distances is nothing to point at.
It's shiny. It's not the solution you're looking for.
@straphanger US freight rail has about double the market share than Germany. By doing what rail is great at. Moving mass. Fast, when needed: consumer goods, parcel, intermodal. Or slow and economical: most everything B2B.
That the US has almost zero state of the art passenger rail is down to politics and infrastructure priorities. The fact that it is home to one of the two major airplane producers. Goddess knows how many car marques. That it invented car culture. It's not down to bulk freight.
K4mpfie@straphanger Hey, I think I had that as a Lego set asva child. Lego #4559
https://www.merlinsbricks.com/sets/lego-4559/
We'll sorta. It did get the idea ๐
