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Re: (erielack) Early E-L Trailer Flats

While not TOFC, the photo is instructive nonetheless. It appears to be an 
ACF channel-side car of the same basic design as TT class F85A, although the 
fact that there are six vehicles per deck makes me wonder if it's an 89' 
car; the photo is from 1963, the year production changed to 89' deck. Steve, 
does your NYC equipment book provide data in this regard? On the right can 
be seen a P-S "S-channel" flat in multilevel service. The point here is that 
the same basic flatcar could be configured for TOFC or multilevel service, 
and later, "for stack-pac", pipe, autoframes and other equipment. It was 
economical for the builders to use a single platform, and provided 
flexibilty for the owner in converting the cars to alternate uses depending 
on market conditions. By 1963, it had become apparent that 89'4" permitted 
an additional vehicle per deck in many instances in multilevel service, 
which is why it supplanted the 85' deck length for TOFC cars.

Merchants Despatch Transportation Co was originally a NYC refrigerator car 
subsidiary which began acquiring flatcars for rack and TOFC/COFC service in 
1958. The rack itself was owned by the RR, in this case NYC. Cars with 
standard deck height (41.5") were used in bilevel service, while lo-decks 
(31.5") were used for trilevels. MDT also owned many lo-decks. In 1973, 97 
ACF pipe-side sill cars (similar to TT F89-series) were de-racked by Penn 
Central for use in TOFC service in tight-clearance districts, espacially the 
B&P tunnel on the NEC and on the former B&A. The one pictured in the PC 
equipment book has P-S hitches!

For the record, NYC also experimented with auto-flexivans, but this didn't 
last long.

Paul B

From: "Ron" <rdukarm_@_roadrunner.com>
Subject: Re: Re: (erielack) Early E-L Trailer Flats]

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List,

I'm no expert on TOFC. But this week I'm scanning in some WNYRHS negatives
and I just came across this excellent shot of a NYC double-decker at
Frontier Yard in 1963. It is the time frame under discussion so I offer it
up for viewing and comment.

Ron Dukarm
 


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