Suggestions for loads on 89 foot flat cars

[gi-depp]

Yes Ed a loco or two

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2775519

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2775518

notice the steel rods weldet on the loco body

[cv_acr]

🤦‍♂️ FTTX cars, as offered by MTL and pictured by the OP, are for auto and truck frame loading, period. Reporting marks matter.

Yes. Quoted because people are ignoring this.

FTTX cars are auto/truck frame service.

To put this car into any other service or loading, it should be a PTTX, XTTX, or JTTX reporting mark. If you add some heavy steel side stakes you can renumber it LTTX and put it in telephone pole service.

[DirtyD79]

Yes. Quoted because people are ignoring this.

FTTX cars are auto/truck frame service.

To put this car into any other service or loading, it should be a PTTX, XTTX, or JTTX reporting mark. If you add some heavy steel side stakes you can renumber it LTTX and put it in telephone pole service.

This is why I like this forum. Here you get real answers to questions about the prototype and not just "It's your railroad. Run what you want." like on other forums that shall remain nameless.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

This is why I like this forum. Here you get real answers to questions about the prototype and not just "It's your railroad. Run what you want." like on other forums that shall remain nameless.

I hate that almost as much as http://edslaw.org/

[wm3798]

Yes. Quoted because people are ignoring this.

FTTX cars are auto/truck frame service.

To put this car into any other service or loading, it should be a PTTX, XTTX, or JTTX reporting mark. If you add some heavy steel side stakes you can renumber it LTTX and put it in telephone pole service.

Thanks for clarifying that.  I was making a suggestion based on a lading I was familiar with for 89' flat cars in general.  I was unaware of the details of the particular car in question.  I wasn't ignoring the facts, I was ignorant of them.  Big difference.

Lee

[Tristan Ashcroft]

I am confident that not that long ago I could do a quick internet search and find a fairly recent roster of TTX flatcars by reporting mark.  At the moment, all I can find is this old thing from 1994.  But at a minimum, a lot of it still applies:  http://www.railfan.net/railpix/text/ttxmarks.txt

There has to be a more recent reference out there somewhere, right?

[nkalanaga]

I wonder if contacting TTX would help?  They almost have to know which flatcars are suitable for which loads, because their prospective customers need to know!  They might have a PDF, or be able to provide a link to a page.

[samusi01]

But at a minimum, a lot of it still applies:

I'd regard anything related to 89' flatcars as suspect. Quick examples, for the modern modeler -

LTTX -- Low deck 89' car in trailer service (now 89' with stakes or bunks for pole service)
PTTX -- bulkhead flat (now 89' equipped for pipe service)
TPDX -- not listed. TTX now uses this mark for military service flats. Chain and tiedown may be different from XTTX.
XTTX -- 89' trailer flat with 4 hitches (now 89' general service flat)

To my knowledge, TTX does not longer roster any 89' in TOFC service. Further, the only 89' with containers that are likely to be seen now (i.e., within the last five years) are TPDX and related (cannot recall the other mark occasionally seen) supporting military loads.

[Mark5]

TOFC is still out there, though I don't know who's flats these are:  https://www.railpictures.net/photo/822680/  (January 19, 2023 photo)

[Tristan Ashcroft]

TOFC is still out there, though I don't know who's flats these are:  https://www.railpictures.net/photo/822680/  (January 19, 2023 photo)

I'm leaning towards TTX spine cars.  It's been a few years at least since I saw an 89 ft flat in intermodal (admittedly, I don't get out much), and I think it was FEC.

[samusi01]

@Tristan Ashcroft I think you're correct. TTRX, single 28', and the far end of the platforms with the single 28' have collapsed hitches for a second 28'.

[GaryHinshaw]

Right. The 2023 photo is definitely a TTRX spine set: three platforms with hitches at each end to accommodate six pup trailers.  A car that has been on my top 5 list for years!    I have not seen an 89’ flat in TOFC service for many years now.

[nkalanaga]

The 89' TOFC cars were basically obsolete as soon as 48' trailers became common.  There's no way to put more than one on a flatcar, although, in theory, a 40' and a 48' would fit.  But how common were 40' trailers by then?

[James Costello]

The 89' TOFC cars were basically obsolete as soon as 48' trailers became common.  There's no way to put more than one on a flatcar, although, in theory, a 40' and a 48' would fit.  But how common were 40' trailers by then?

You would think that would be the case, but the ability to load 3x 28s or the 53' + 28' combo saw the 89' flat remain the backbone of the TOFC fleet until well into the 00s and the TTAX / TTRX spine car fleets started to dominate.

[nkalanaga]

OK, I'll buy the 28' connection.  I saw very few TOFC trains after moving to Kentucky in 1978.  Neither Chessie/CSX nor N&W/NS seem to run many today.  Lots of containers, but very few trailers.  For the last 11 years I've worked next to NS, south of Kenova, WV, and see their trains going to and from work.  Stack trains almost everyday, during the 30-40 minutes of driving.  A trailer maybe once a month.  Not a train of trailers, one trailer!

Judging by pictures, BNSF and UP still haul a lot of trailers.  I have no idea why the difference.