Eastern Railroad Discussion > Triplecrown Detroit to Kansas City Train

Hello,
I am curious if any can comment on why the Detroit to Kansas City Roadrailer train was continued when the rest of the Triplecrown network was converted to doublestack. In particular I wanted to understand what involvement the customers, understood to be auto parts suppliers and consumers, had in the decision. Was it just to use up the remaining life of the trailers or is there some efficiency in not putting containers on chassis for the short haul to the plants or suppliers? What is the total time in transit for the service dock door to dock door?

I can't give you specifics on the need or reasoning for the traffic but I live near the Wabash line and there are two trains left.  255 is westbound and 256 is eastbound.  Ron 

I was under the impression that the supply of road-railer units had diminished to the point where only one or two lanes could be maintained. The number of auto asembly and parts suppliers in both areas made that lane retention worthwhile.

ns chose not to invest in the roadrail technology anymore. doublestack has become alot easier to maintain the fleet of cars and the roadrailers were getting close to the time for replacement. is it possible that wabash national,the manufacturer of the majority of ns roadrailers,said they would not make any more without a huge amount of money from ns,such as a large order to justify the extra cost of the more beefed up trailers?

If memory serves me correctly I think I heard/read where part of the demise was that Wabash National was not going to be producing new fleet of trailers.  Specifics unknown by me just adding dialogue similar to above.  .  
 

I think the bogies are at the end of their useful life...not the trailers,,,

Part of the story I've heard is that Ford, a major shipper in the Detroit-KC lane, likes the RoadRailer service and was instrumental in its preservation in that lane.