Eastern Railroad Discussion > Autorack car question

When autorack trains are created, are the autos assorted to the train's cars and levels of which each automobile is located within each car, making each autorack car least top heavy?

Sandpatch25

Check out the Nov 2013 issue of Trains Mag. The whole issue is about Autorack trains in the states and across the southern border.

More often than not the vehicles loaded are very similar, since they are coming out of the factory. It's unusual to have widely different types of vehicles in a rack. I have seen situations where large auction houses will transport different types of cars in the same rack, but size restrictions will prevent loading say pick-up's in tri-levels.

Andy

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Thanks for the information and illustration!

Top heavy is not an issue. Next time you see autoracks look at the LT WT and LD LMT stencilled on the side of the car. Most racks (LT WT) weigh 50-55 tons empty. You have about 34 tons for the basic 89ft flat plus the weight of the racks and doors themselves addding another 20-25, depending if bi-level or tri-level. You can look at the door of your vehicle to see how much it weighs. Most autos, SUVs and Minivans and big vans, are less than 3 tons, most between one and two tons. So loaded autoracks rarely weigh more than 70 tons loaded, most less than that. Because the tare weight is much more than the gross weight makes autoracks very stable. This is unusual for a railroad car, where the net weight is usually 3 to 4 times the tare weight. In fact, loaded and empty auto rack trains according to some comments I have heard from engineers handle very simarily, and 'run like a passenger train'. Only some intermodal platforms in articulated spine cars could be lighter with empty trailers or cons in the same given distance of car length.