{SUGGESTION} TOFC(Trailer On Flatcar) service

[Battlecarrier Orion]

Just an idea to add interest to the game, and also brought by how quickly TOFC took hold on many railroads, such as the Pennsylvania, and Nickel Plate.

[Pensfanvw]

What in game industry would they service?

[Battlecarrier Orion]

TOFC wouldn't serve an industry, unless we were talking something being implemented like the REA, I'd imagine a couple of loading areas in the bigger towns though for TOFC, and maybe they'd operate from there as less-than car-loads for the Sawmill, and other industries, but also similar to passenger service. Early TOFC is also vastly different than modern TOFC, it could be mixed in with normal freight trains, and eventually end up being independent unit trains, or expedited freight. That's kinda why I suggested it, it serves a vast amount of industries, and be a way to tell more of the story of the region without having spurs connect to each industry.

[solarus the iron horsemon]

the only reason for TOFC on this railroad would be from interchange to interchange

[x1Heavy]

I can take a regular trip of TOFC from Andrews to Slvya on a high speed schedule of no less than 20 mph. And vice versa back. This train will have a percentage of Line Haul slightly better than passenger, a big horsepower to freight weight for RMG and be relatively disruptive as it passes through everything end to end. It represents cargo thats like very fresh and it has to go through priority.

Why would a Murphy mountain line take such a bridge traffic freight if it was so hot and going straight across the whole railroad at 20 or faster? I think its fun. Motivating even. Find some big power and tie onto the 20 cars or whatever and go. I can see some of you doing 30 if not 40 in parts of the line.

[Battlecarrier Orion]

My whole thing for TOFC is something fun, with a lot of running, few stops, and lil to no switching. Coal drags, and passenger is fun, but there is nothing for hot-shots. That and let's think prototypically for that period of time for a minute: 50ft flatcars were modified from regular service to TOFC service, during this time, Trailer Train would be formed, and literally every railroad was doing it. Not just the two roads I mentioned, but UP, GN, SOU, N&W, ACL/SAL, WP, SP, and CNW to list more examples. Even the short lines had TOFC services, if not their own, branches of a larger service.

[Battlecarrier Orion]

Originally posted by solarus the iron horsemon:

the only reason for TOFC on this railroad would be from interchange to interchange

Maybe on yours. Mine has a different mentality on TOFC. Less switching, fewer cars, and let's be honest for a minute, in modern times your statement is correct...back then, the Interstate Highway act was still going through Congress.

[DorniNerd]

Thanks for your thoughts!

[sbmarauderman03]

I could see a handful of TOFCs (single trailer on a 53ft flat) per week making it's way to Bryson, Andrews, or Sylva, but that's about it. Most of the towns on this line are simply too small (both in the era the game is set in as well as today) to generate any significant need for goods to be delivered via TOFC. Companies would not want their 'hotshot' cargo traversing a winding, up-and-down single tracked line where safest top operating speed is 35mph.

[x1Heavy]

Western Maryland enters the Chat.

They were the queen of fast TOFC freight, called the wild mary. Single tracked and everything.

One of their interchanges reached Graham County in due course with our railroad therein.

TOFC was something that was its own class of train. Nothing else was part of it.

In the 50's US Mail contracts started going bad, Express packages started going bad with the mails system and trucking worked to take freight where the railroad wont go being regulated and all with the ICC back then. I became a trucker post ICC but recall using the left overs from the system in the 80's until its eventual and final death at some point under NAFTA and so on.

[Battlecarrier Orion]

Originally posted by sbmarauderman03:

I could see a handful of TOFCs (single trailer on a 53ft flat) per week making it's way to Bryson, Andrews, or Sylva, but that's about it. Most of the towns on this line are simply too small (both in the era the game is set in as well as today) to generate any significant need for goods to be delivered via TOFC. Companies would not want their 'hotshot' cargo traversing a winding, up-and-down single tracked line where safest top operating speed is 35mph.

That's what I was thinking. 89ft cars didn't exist yet, and maybe we'd get lucky to have 60ft cars.

[kildar501]

Don't forget that the semi trailers of the day that would be on the TOFC cars would be, at most, 40' long. They didn't allow the bigger trailers like we see today until many decades later. So you wouldn't need bigger flatcars for it than are already available. On the other hand, anything coming in on a load like that would probably be unloaded at Asheville and trucked on to the destination so seeing it as anything but a run through load would be highly unlikely on this line prototypically speaking.

[x1Heavy]

Trailers in the 50's were I think 35 foot. So generally two 17 foot stricks etc would fit into a 50 foot flatcar or even a 40 footer.

This would be "Bridge Traffic" meaning they show up at say Andrews and they are carded to run the entire railroad at PRIORITY SERVICE FAST TIME to Slvya. The railroad will earn money for fast transit sort of a bonus of 20% for having it off the line in 12 hour day. There would not be any place to unload them. (They were loaded and unloaded circus style, nose to tail)

The railroads prided themselves on having a trailer of anything from anywhere west of the Mississippi (Chicago in particular) to anywhere on the east coast faster or as fast as the solo trucker could get it there. There was a enormous competition among the Alphabet Railroads (WM, B&O, STL, Wabash, IC, PRR, NYC in particular and so on

In any way its a wonderful idea and a chance to have big steam stretch out it's legs and RUN. none of this puffing about puttering with this and that. In Train Order they would be superior to first class Passenger service in priority. Only POTUS and MAIN Military moves would be higher.

[Battlecarrier Orion]

Originally posted by kildar501:

Don't forget that the semi trailers of the day that would be on the TOFC cars would be, at most, 40' long. They didn't allow the bigger trailers like we see today until many decades later. So you wouldn't need bigger flatcars for it than are already available. On the other hand, anything coming in on a load like that would probably be unloaded at Asheville and trucked on to the destination so seeing it as anything but a run through load would be highly unlikely on this line prototypically speaking.

Yea, I got a couple models of 26/28ft trailers, 35ft and 40ft trailers. Modern 45, 48, & 53ft trailers are relatively new to the concept of combination vehicles.

[kildar501]

Originally posted by Battlecarrier Orion:

Originally posted by kildar501:

Don't forget that the semi trailers of the day that would be on the TOFC cars would be, at most, 40' long. They didn't allow the bigger trailers like we see today until many decades later. So you wouldn't need bigger flatcars for it than are already available. On the other hand, anything coming in on a load like that would probably be unloaded at Asheville and trucked on to the destination so seeing it as anything but a run through load would be highly unlikely on this line prototypically speaking.

Yea, I got a couple models of 26/28ft trailers, 35ft and 40ft trailers. Modern 45, 48, & 53ft trailers are relatively new to the concept of combination vehicles.

And then there are the 57' out West.....felt like I was dragging an oil tanker around behind me that trip from Denver to Dallas.......