Wikipedia:Annotated article
The non-annotated version of this article is at Autorack
Note that the article title,
in this case "Autorack", is
given as soon as grammatically
feasible, in bold text. The
first use of any alternate forms
of the title, here "auto carrier"
is also in bold text. The section
above the table of contents (TOC)
is called "the lead."
↓↓
|
The first image in articles
is usually on the right.
This is especially helpful
when there is a table of
contents, as it reduces the
blank space to the right. → →
|
An autorack, also known as an auto carrier, is a specialized piece of
It is widely used to carry new
↑↑
Key words and phrases are linked to
articles in Wikipedia. Links to external
sites are generally discouraged in the
main article text; these belong in the
"External links" section at the bottom
of the article.
|
The table of contents is automatically
generated by the software that runs Wikipedia.
It can be disabled in one's user preferences.
↓↓
|
History: developing improvements from boxcars
Check source to see how to move content box (toc) to the right side ...
↑↑
The first heading, surrounded by == in
the article's source, wikitext, comes after
the lead. Note that headings are
capitalized like sentences, not titles.
|
In the early part of the 20th century, when automobiles were still new technology, their production levels were low enough that they could be shipped in sufficient quantities in boxcars. Two to four automobiles would usually fit into one boxcar. But as automobiles grew in size, railroads found that they needed to modify the boxcars for more efficient loading. Some modifications included longer boxcars, larger sliding double side doors located near one end of the boxcar, or doors located on the boxcar ends.
These modifications helped, but the demand for new automobiles outpaced the railroads' abilities to build and modify boxcars in which to ship them. In 1923, the
By this time, in the United States, most circuses still traveled by rail. Circuses were major haulers of wheeled vehicles, carrying all of their vehicles on
It wasn't [sic] until the 1960s that the majority of railroads took the clue from circuses and started loading their own flat cars in this manner. But, loading even up to six automobiles onto one flat car left a large amount of space above the vehicles that was unused. The natural solution was to take the temporary assemblies that were used to stack and load vehicles within boxcars and permanently attach them to the flat cars. The assemblies, also called racks, created two levels on which automobiles could be loaded. To complete the flat car, foldaway bridges were added to the ends of the flat car decks to allow the vehicles to be driven the entire length of a train for loading. Building flat cars in this manner, the railroads no longer needed specialized equipment to load and unload the racks in boxcars. All they needed now was a ramp at the right height.
In the 1950s, in
In late 1957,
Autoracks quickly lengthened to around 80 ft (24 m) to increase their loading capacity. This made them about as long as the average passenger car of the time; if the cars were much longer, they wouldn't [sic] be able to operate in interchange service due to clearance issues on curves. Yet, the railroads could still do better. It didn't [sic] take long for the first three-level autoracks to appear on American rails.
Transporting new automobiles
Most articles with multiple images----
alternate sides, giving a more balanced
and interesting appearance. → →
|
During the 1960s, specially built auto carriers took over rail transportation of newly manufactured automobiles in North America. They carried more cars in the same space and were easier to load and unload than the boxcars used earlier. Arthur Crookshank of the New York Central Railroad is credited with having the first set of cars manufactured for use in the late 1950s.[citation needed] Ever-larger auto carriers and specialized terminals were developed by Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) and other carriers. Also in this decade, autoracks were built in three-level configurations so railroads could haul more of the smaller vehicles of the era; two-level autoracks were still in use for vans and light trucks.
The only problem left was that the new autorack cars did not provide any protection from flying debris or from the weather. In the manner CN had developed in the 1950s, in the 1970s other North American railroads began refining their autorack cars. They began installing side sheathing to protect the vehicles from impact. Roofs were added to most autoracks in the 1980s, and end doors were added in the latter portion of the decade (both to prevent damage and to deter people from boarding the cars and riding the train within the vehicles loaded in them).
Sub-heading (using === at both ends of the line)
↓↓
|
Trailer Train Company
↑↑
Proper nouns in headings are, of course, capitalized
|
Although railroads were just beginning to see the advantages that autoracks delivered in the 1960s, most North American railroads were reluctant to invest in such specially built equipment. The
This arrangement worked so well that nearly every autorack operating in the US was so owned. Trailer Train became
New designs and current usage
Railroads of today are still grappling with the problem of loading more and larger vehicles onto autoracks. One popular solution is to create a double-length car that is articulated over a single middle truck (bogie) so that each half of the car is about the same length as a conventional autorack. These cars, which can be seen in operation on many of the railroads of the western US, are brand named AutoMax cars. These cars, built by Gunderson (a subsidiary of The Greenbrier Companies) measure 145 ft 4 in (44.3 m) long and 20 ft 2 in (6 m) tall; they feature adjustable interior decks to carry up to 22 light trucks and minivans.
The railroads became the primary long-distance transporter of completed automobiles, one of few commodities where the industry has been able to overcome trucking in competition. Using the enclosed tri-level autoracks, they were able to provide both lower costs and greater protection from in-transit damage (such as that which may occur due to weather and traffic conditions on unenclosed truck trailers).
Latest innovations
In 2004,
Auto Train: combining autoracks and passenger cars
Auto-Train Corp: a privately funded innovation
On December 6, 1971 Auto-Train Corporation introduced a new and innovative rail transportation service for both passengers and their automobiles in the United States, operating scheduled service between Lorton, Virginia (near Washington, D.C.) and Sanford, Florida, near Orlando.
The
- avoid the long automobile ride on busy Interstate 95 in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida
- have the convenience of use of their own automobile upon arrival.
From the beginning in 1971 (the same year Amtrak began service on purely passenger routes in the US), a key feature of Auto-Train's new service was the use of autoracks, which were former Canadian National bi-level autorack cars acquired used. These were augmented by new tri-level auto-racks in 1976.
The privately owned service became very popular, but after 10 years of operation, and some costly attempts to expand the service elsewhere (such as a schedule between Florida and
Amtrak's Auto Train: federally sponsored service
In current operation of Amtrak's
Today, Amtrak's Auto Train carries about 200,000 passengers and generates around $50 million in revenue annually. It is considered Amtrak's best-paying train in terms of income in comparison with operating expenses.
Alaska Railroad: Service through a long one-lane tunnel
An Auto Train type of service utilizing autoracks and
In the mid-1960s, the Alaska Railroad began offering a shuttle service through the tunnel which allowed vehicles to drive onto auto carrier cars to be transported between Whittier and the former town of Portage. As traffic to Whittier increased, the shuttle became insufficient, leading to a project to convert the existing railroad tunnel into a one-lane, combination highway and railway tunnel which was opened to traffic on June 7, 2000.
"See also" is the standard heading for
related Wikipedia articles not already
linked elsewhere in the article.
↓↓
|
See also
- Rail terminology
↑↑
A bulleted list (using * at the beginning of the line)
|
References
- The Greenbrier Companies, Technical Bulletin – Auto-Max (.
- White, Jr., John H. (1993). The American Railroad Freight Car. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland. ISBN 0-8018-5236-6.
"External links" is the standard heading
under which links to external websites
are collected.
↓↓
|
External links
- Amtrak official website
- Amtrak Photo Archive: the AutoTrain Autoracks — includes data and an image gallery.
- "The Evolution of Automobile Traffic" — 2003 article from The National Railway Bulletin 68 (1).
- "Johnstown America delivers first aluminum auto carriers to First Union Rail" — August 3, 2004 online article from Trains Magazine.
- Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel — "North America's Longest Railway-Highway Tunnel."
External links are sometimes sorted into subheadings.
↓↓
|
Auto-Max links
- "Auto-Max railcar gets more vehicles to dealers" — March, 2003 online article from Popular Mechanics.
- "Detroit: A demanding customer demands more" — September, 1999 online article from Railway Age.
- "New NS lines meet growing Honda needs" — March 26, 2004 online article from the Daily Home.
Most of the annotations on this page are based on
guidelines from
|
Categories
(always prefixed by the word "Categories", and
listed in the order the page lists them)
are found at the bottom of the article
if you are using the standard "skin"
but may be at the top in other skins.
↓↓
|