posted on Feb, 15 2009 @ 10:03 PM
Not another one of these FEMA prison car threads........AGAIN!!!!! Threse kind of threads get old and fast. Come to think of it, I can't really think
of how many threads that I have seen about this topic. Anyways on to the destruction.......
What these pictures are of are automobile carriers, otherwise known as autoracks. The means of an autorack/auto carrier is to transport either import
or export automobiles either to port or from thr ports to distribution centers across the United States and Canada. These cars can actually transport
automobiles from the assembly plants to the distribution centers. However, with the auto makers in so much financial trouble as it is. It's nothing
to see a hundred to two hundred of these behemoths parked on either sidings or in the rail yards. There are tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of
thousands of these cars that are just sitting there that are not being used in revenue service. The exact figures I don't really have but I'd say
it's somewhere around fifty to sixty thousand of these autoracks that are setting idle in rail yards. All of this being due to the recession that we
are in.
Another thing that most people don't understand about these cars is that these cars are designed for large loads. Hence the length and the large
capacity that these cars have to handle. A regular 89' 4" bilevel autorack can handle several different variations when it comes to automobiles. One
variation can hold six full-sized family sedans. Another variation can hold four to six sport utility vehicles. The third variation can hold no more
than eight compacts. On the other hand. As for the chains that you see in the pictures. Those chains are what secure the automobiles into place while
in transit. They way these chains work is that the chains are actually fastened to the chassis of the automobiles. Even though these chains are
designed so that it keeps the automobile in place. These chains also safeguard the automobiles from receiving damage while in transit.
Just my .15$ worthless cents to add.
ATS' Resident Railfan G.F.400 is out.