Eastern Railroad Discussion > NS Roadrailer schedule question

After leaving fascist Facebook a month ago I have been out of the loop regarding what appears to be ever changing PSR train schedules, symbol changes, etc. on Norfolk Southern's Wabash line. For the past couple of weeks, I have not seen nor heard NS 255 in the mornings per its normal schedule here in north central Indiana. Last night around midnight I heard 255 on the radio heading westbound through Logansport, IN. Did NS change 255's schedule or was there a delay due to equipment issues, MOW, or other reason in the Detroit area yesterday? 

NS 255 is profiled to depart Detroit Oakwood Yard Tu-Su at 02:20 EST, depart from its Peru, IN crew change at 09:20 CST, and be in Decatur at 14:35 CST.  

255-20 was the first roadrailer that ran WB in over a week.  It made good time on its entire run, about an hour ahead of schedule for the most part.  However, 255-21 departed Peru a little over 13 hrs behind schedule.  

Andrew



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/22/21 17:34 by florida581.

Thank you Andrew. Quite a few auto assembly plants are shutting down due to a shortage of microchips. The microchip shortage started at the end of last year and has been wreaking havoc on the automotive industry that has been struggling to keep up with the demand for their vehicles . That explains the Roadrailer non-runs and the shortened NS 181 now running at around 3500' in length.

John

I miss the roadrailer trains. Like the saying goes, always take pictures of the ordinary. It will not always be there.

Posted from Android

cabsignaldrop Wrote:
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> I miss the roadrailer trains. Like the saying
> goes, always take pictures of the ordinary. It
> will not always be there.
>
> Posted from Android

Agreed on both points (missing road trailers and take photos of everything).

261 was one of my favorite trains, especially when a brace of GP60’s was doing the honors.

Dan

Posted from iPhone

I thought all of the Roadrailers had been discontinued.  I didn't realize any were still running.
I did get to catch a few on a few different lines.  Up and down the Rathole when they were running to and from Atlanta. 
Also when I was working in Oklahoma  when they ran down to Ft Worth area.

This is a shot of a southbound south of Oklahoma City in May of 2008.
Michael Reid

---

lapklub Wrote:
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> I thought all of the Roadrailers had been
> discontinued.  I didn't realize any were still
> running.

Detroit - Kansas City pair 255 and 256 are the only ones remaining.

Andrew

What I heard was that the main reason the once extensive RoadRailer service was phased out was that the RoadRailer fleet is aging and wearing out; they are no longer manufacturing new ones.  NS had collected the best ones and running them exclusively in this lane.  As more of them are taken out of service; this train will go away, to be replaced by their standard intermodal service.  I don't think I have ever seen a former RoadRailer trailer in any kind of road service since then, old ones must be getting parked or scrapped.  They may still have a tare weight disadvantage against standard trailers.

Old RoadRailer trailers are somewhat common in my area of the Midwest. I’ve seen them on piggyback and also highway service.

Posted from iPhone

Thanks Andrew for the update.
They are a unique operation!!
Mike

I too frequently see Triple Crown trailers around me, but living just outside Fort Wayne, it's not a shock to see them around. I do also see them on the road around the Detroit area, but again, since they go to Detroit, not a surprise.

Theyou are regular visitors on west coast BNSF piggyback trains.

Posted from Android

zars Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What I heard was that the main reason the once
> extensive RoadRailer service was phased out was
> that the RoadRailer fleet is aging and wearing
> out; they are no longer manufacturing new ones.

I have heard that mentioned by several people, but you won't convince me that IF Norfolk Southern wanted to place a sizable order, Wabash National or someone else wouldn't have stepped up to the plate and built them.  We have a customer that NEEDS 48' dry vans, but nobody wants to build 48 footers. They WILL of course, they just want to apply a custom order charge that has priced them out of what the customer is willing to pay for, so they continue to lease 20 year old 48's that have so many miles on them the white painted panels are slowly fading back to bare aluminum . Of course that would be for an order of 10 or so.  I'm quite sure if you walked in with an order for several hundred, the numbers would look a little different.

A good # of the ex-triple crown went into the UPS fleet, IIRC they have been drying up of late.

Could what the RoadRailers are currently hauling be hauled in regular containers, or even boxcars?

Jim

junctiontower Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> zars Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What I heard was that the main reason the once
> > extensive RoadRailer service was phased out was
> > that the RoadRailer fleet is aging and wearing
> > out; they are no longer manufacturing new ones.
>
> I have heard that mentioned by several people, but
> you won't convince me that IF Norfolk Southern
> wanted to place a sizable order, Wabash National
> or someone else wouldn't have stepped up to the
> plate and built them.  We have a customer that
> NEEDS 48' dry vans, but nobody wants to build 48
> footers. They WILL of course, they just want to
> apply a custom order charge that has priced them
> out of what the customer is willing to pay for, so
> they continue to lease 20 year old 48's that have
> so many miles on them the white painted panels are
> slowly fading back to bare aluminum . Of course
> that would be for an order of 10 or so.  I'm
> quite sure if you walked in with an order for
> several hundred, the numbers would look a little
> different.

I'm curious why they need 48' vans. That size is practically obsolete - do they have old loading/unloading facilities?

DevalDragon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> junctiontower Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > zars Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > What I heard was that the main reason the
> once
> > > extensive RoadRailer service was phased out
> was
> > > that the RoadRailer fleet is aging and
> wearing
> > > out; they are no longer manufacturing new
> ones.
> >
> > I have heard that mentioned by several people,
> but
> > you won't convince me that IF Norfolk Southern
> > wanted to place a sizable order, Wabash
> National
> > or someone else wouldn't have stepped up to the
> > plate and built them.  We have a customer that
> > NEEDS 48' dry vans, but nobody wants to build
> 48
> > footers. They WILL of course, they just want to
> > apply a custom order charge that has priced
> them
> > out of what the customer is willing to pay for,
> so
> > they continue to lease 20 year old 48's that
> have
> > so many miles on them the white painted panels
> are
> > slowly fading back to bare aluminum . Of course
> > that would be for an order of 10 or so.  I'm
> > quite sure if you walked in with an order for
> > several hundred, the numbers would look a
> little
> > different.
>
> I'm curious why they need 48' vans. That size is
> practically obsolete - do they have old
> loading/unloading facilities?

Yes, their dock facilities do not play nice with 53 footers.  Practically obsolete is probably being generous.  When we first bought out the lease for this customer from one of our competitors in the mid-80's they had 42 footers and were perfectly happy with them, but those too were obsolete, so we put them in 45's and the last go around we had to go to 48's.  As you can probably guess, they deal with heavy product that maxes out on weight, not cubic capacity.  Part of the problem besides the manufacturers not really wanting to make 48's is that they are such oddballs now that IF we were to buy new 48's for them, we would have to have extra protection written into the lease so we don't get stuck with white elephants if the customer cancels the lease, and that bumps the lease price higher than the customer will go for, so the old ragged 48's carry on. Much like old boxcars that nobody wants to risk buying new, so they make do with the old soldiers. That is the major ptfall of leasing specialized equipment.  We will do it, BUT the leases basically say if you want out, you HAVE to buy the equipment.  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/21 19:18 by junctiontower.