The Globalization of American Infrastructure by Matthew Heins

Author:Matthew Heins [Heins, Matthew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology, General, Human Geography
ISBN: 9781317282365
Google: bix-CwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2016-01-29T06:01:07+00:00

7 The Changing Railroads

As of the late 1970s, the shipping container was a fairly well-established cargo on American railroads, but it was not yet carried in truly significant quantities and its impact on the nation’s rail infrastructure was minimal. Containerization would have a far greater effect on the United States’ railroad system from the 1980s onward, due in large part to the emergence of double-stacking, the practice of carrying containers held one atop the other. By the end of the 1970s, a variety of railcars specifically designed to carry containers were in use, but the notion of a double-stack railcar that would transport containers two-high was a bolder idea. Malcom McLean had advocated for double-stacking as early as the 1960s, and he was not alone. The Rail-Trailer Company considered the idea, and the consulting firm A.T. Kearney came up with a somewhat eccentric proposal for a large railcar able to hold stacked containers of various sizes in several configurations. The Canadian Pacific Railway introduced and tested a double-stack railcar, and in the early 1970s, the Canadian National Railway did likewise.1 But none of these panned out.

During the 1970s, McLean continued to push for double-stacking, seeking in particular to persuade the Southern Pacific Railroad, already carrying Sea-Land containers, of its merits. Concerned about vertical clearance, McLean wondered how close to the tracks it would be possible to hold the bottom container. While at Union Station in Washington, D.C., with his family, on their way to an event with the President, he noticed some railcars with equipment hanging down close to the rails, and promptly crawled amidst them to measure the distance between the rails and the lowest equipment. When he arrived at the White House later in the day, the condition of McLean’s clothing reflected this little adventure.2

McLean was no longer running Sea-Land by the late 1970s, but apparently his interest in the double-stack concept had taken root, for Sea-Land and Southern Pacific began to work jointly on a design for a double-stack railcar, and had a prototype built in 1977. It was tested successfully, but then Southern Pacific decided an articulated railcar would be more efficient than a single-unit railcar. An articulated railcar is a design that looks like several railcars but is actually multiple units comprising one extremely long car. The units, which would appear to a normal observer to be separate cars, are permanently connected to each other with links between them that allow for pivoting. The wheel components—bogies, in rail terminology—can be shared by adjacent units, so only half as many wheels are needed. Another advantage is that there is less slack action with articulated cars, resulting in a smoother ride and less damage to cargo. In 1979, a prototype of an articulated three-unit double-stack car was tested, and in 1981, Southern Pacific finally put articulated five-unit double-stack cars into regular use.3 It was the first double-stacking operation in American rail.

In the years since, double-stacking has gradually become pervasive. The obvious advantage of a double-stack car or unit is that it holds two containers instead of one.

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