Posted on 06/01/2015 10:30:30 AM PDT by Dick Bachert
I recently had the following FB message exchanges with Union Pacific Railroad seeking clarification of the functions of the rail cars in the photo below.
My requests to UP and the dates of same are as follows:
On 5/11/2015: Can someone there please advise me the intended cargo/function of the rail cars shown in the accompanying photos? Thanks.
Their nearly immediate initial reply (no date):
Hi Richard,
That is an AutoMax automotive rack.
You can check out the different varieties here:
https://www.up.com/customers/all/equipment/descriptions/auto-racks/index.htm
Thanks for reaching out!
Best,
Alison Freemyer
Corporate Relations
My NEXT attempt to get the truth:
On 5/20/2015
Alison, These are distinctly different from the autoracks built by THRALL CAR's Winder, Georgia plant. I supplied many of the overhead cranes in Winder (photo attached of some of the gantries). What appear to be spaced ventilation openings in the sides and the accordian structure between car pairs have led to speculation that they are, in fact, mobile prison facilities being kept ready to incarcerate -- and, some, believe, execute en-route -- those involved in civil unrest and riots should order break down here. That would make these transports very akin to the cattle cars the Nazi used in transporting Jews and others to the camps. Can you send me a photo showing THESE cars being used in a vehicle transportation application? It would go a long way toward improving UP's perception by some members of the public.
Allison, This is my second request for a photo of the AutoMax automotive carriers showing them being loaded or holding vehicles. The photo below is the type of cars to which I refer.
SINCE THAT SECOND INQUIRY ON 5/20, NOTHING FROM UNION PACIFIC!
QUESTION: I'm certain we have some railroad buffs on FR. Can any of YOU furnish us a photo or photos of these cars LOADING or UNLOADING the vehicles UP purports to be their function???
Those car carriers have been around for a long time. I’ve seen them loaded with cars sidelined next to Van Buren Blvd. on my way to work back in the 1990’s prior to retiring.
If you are suggesting as some of the responses these are some new innovation for people hauling to the gulag, or the like, then you’re assuming incorrectly. These things are like regular car carriers but with sides to protect the cars from rocks being thrown at them, and graffiti being painted on them. The railroads had to go to the extra expense of these covered cars due idiots vandalizing the cargo of automobiles.
Periodically I'm forced to stop at a RR crossing but the monotony is broken by all the cars with spray painted graffiti on them......lots of good stuff.
Don’t know if the tank was full, but it had to have some gas in it to drive the cars on and off of the rail cars and the transport trucks. As for the keys, I imagine they shipped with the cars. If not, this was in the days when hot-wiring was common. All I know is my uncle caught guys in cars. Sometimes they were “rough” with bums on trains back in the day.
LOL.
I thought I read where they were 2-piece articulated cars, hence the gasket. I saw where one model railroad company was selling little replicas of those to train buffs.
Tampa has an auto distribution lot, so I’ve seen them on the CSX tracks. They are used for SUVs and Pickups, as they are bigger then regular auto carriers.
Why of course. It's obvious that is why there's all that razor ribbon there.
Here - just look at my drone video that proves it.. ;-)
(Do I need a /s?)
Walmart, it’s the ‘everything’ store.
Erik, you are spoiling a perfectly good conspiracy thread before it can even get a good start.
I can see bums sleeping in cars for comfort on the seats and with the windows down. Just kind of amuses me if they were actually riding on the train with the windows up and AC and the engine running.
There you go. Sell you two cars with only 3 sets of wheels, cheapskates.
The round vent holes in the sides are so bums trapped inside can easily pee outside and watch the countryside pass by.
“There’s a u-toob video on the vega and (as I recall) those vertical car carriers were specially designed for them.”
The Vegas were designed to allow vertical transport - the engine oil system. They probably spent more on engineering the design to be shippable rather then reliable. How many turds can you stack on a rail car?
Union Pacific “failed”?
It isn’t UP’s job to do for you what you can do with 15 seconds and an internet connection.
I think the Vega transport was essentially an experiment and one that failed
http://www.trainweb.org/funnelfan/automax.htm
Articulation is for handling turns.... these things are huge.
In the early 70’s new cars were transported in open rail carriers. The insurance companies got tired of paying claims on broken windows and body dents from people throwing rocks at the trains. Thus the invention of the enclosed car carrier.
Don’t see a lot of trains in Florida... do you live around Chicago?
No, a suburb just north of Detroit.......
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