Railroaders' Nostalgia > Early S.P. Piggyback TOFC Flatcars

This is a cross post that is over on the Nostalgia & History forum by Photobob,

( http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,2906920 )

I thought it might be of interest to throw it in here:

Thats it!
Thanks Bob.

I had the pleasure back in 1961 or so to ride in one of those PMT donkey tractors
out at Gemco yard in Van Nuys Ca..

We backed up the loading ramp onto a string of loaded TFC flats and un-loaded two loaded four car (automobile) auto-transport trailers that came in on the train from back east.

These TFC cars had short rail bridges that folded down to connect the rails on each car.
We backed over two empty flats to reach the loaded trailers.
I remember (crossing over the car ends) how rough & jerky the ride got on those rail connectors.

My Dad then hooked into one of the trailers with his Big GMC truck Tractor and headed for a local Chevy dealership in the San Fernado Valley to deliver the new Chevys.

Dad worked for S.P's PMT (Pacific Motor Trucking) out of Gemco hauling new Chevys to dealerships all over California for 29 long years.

(A Photobob picture)

Epilogue:

I was only 8 years old and had gone into work (Gemco PMT yard) on a Saturday with my Dad to grab his Pay check.

On the way out we saw they were un-loading some TOFC flats that had came in during the nite
on the Chatworth Hauler off the BSM out of Taylor yard.

My Dad knew all the loader/unloader guys so he went over and asked If we could get a ride.

They said no problem and the rest is history.

Dad - May he rest in Piece, Boy do I miss him,

Gary

---

This picture, and the picture of the flatcars in Photobob's linked post, seem to indicate that the SP used the Clejan system for its early TOFC services. I'm familiar with the New Haven's 85' Clejan flatcars; I was not aware that any other railroad used them.

Ray

And a classic Mack tractor, too. One of those would draw some attention at the Antique Truck gathering at OERM.

There was extensive coverage of the early SP TOFC in a somewhat recent SPH&TS Trainline magazine. I don't have mine available but I think the answer to the Clejan question was yes. There were also a number of other iterations to the concept. The cars have also been spotted in late era MoW service and I think there was a thread on TO about that.

There's a few web based and printed sources around. They would have a better answer.

http://www.nscalekits.co.uk/clejan_spine.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/carhaul/4923032665/



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/02/12 14:26 by elu34ch.

Thanks so much elu34ch.

How cool is that.

Even shows an Auto-Transport trailer. (N-scale)

Gary

What is that under the front of the truck? Looks almost like small metal wheels meant to ride the rub rails on the 89' TOFC cars.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

funnelfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What is that under the front of the truck? Looks
> almost like small metal wheels meant to ride the
> rub rails on the 89' TOFC cars.


Yep, that's what they've been talking about. Not the rub rails but the metal track on the top of the car. Eliminates the difficulty of backing-up during 'circus-style' loading.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/06/12 08:52 by TCnR.

Ray_Murphy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This picture, and the picture of the flatcars in
> Photobob's linked post, seem to indicate that the
> SP used the Clejan system for its early TOFC
> services. I'm familiar with the New Haven's 85'
> Clejan flatcars; I was not aware that any other
> railroad used them.
>
> Ray

The SP's fleet of 151 Clejan flat cars was second only to New Haven's fleet of 202. Erie and KCS were the only other operators Full roster here:

http://intermodalarchive.org/old/FTCLEJAN.HTM

More information on the SP cars in Tony Thompson's 'SP Freight Cars Vol 3: Automobile and Flat Cars.'

Here's another photo I found on-line:

http://www.wheelsotime.com/display/ShowImage?imageUrl=/storage/post-images/2011/nov-dec/early-TOFC-web.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1324498228515



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/12 06:31 by Arved.

Arved Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ...The SP's fleet of 151 Clejan flat cars was second
> only to New Haven's fleet of 202. Erie and KCS
> were the only other operators Full roster here:
>
> http://intermodalarchive.org/old/FTCLEJAN.HTM

That link didn't work for me, but I was able to find the roster here- http://intermodalarchive.org/RC_ClejanFlat.htm That is a very good website, thanks!

mapboy