Trinity, which is involved in the manufacturing, leasing, and maintaining of railcars, introduced the car earlier this year, according to CEO Tim Wallace.
While Wallace says the move by the rail industry toward Precision Schedule Railroading has encouraged Trinity to continue in its research for ways to make shipper car ownership and leasing more efficient, development of the new auto rack stems from shipper feedback, not PSR.
The car, called Hourglass, has greater interior width and is designed for better ergonomics, Trinity officials say.
“There’s a safety issue,” says Wallace, noting that the Hourglass allows crews to load pickup trucks by using a door of the vehicle, rather than the conventional method of being required to remove the rear window of the truck for access.
Eric Marchetto, Trinity RailGroup vice president, says the Hourglass has received “very good response from the auto manufacturers and the Class Is.”
I worked many years for PC, CR, AAR, and TTX involved with auto loading and unloading and associated equipment issues and have seen loaders and haulaway drivers exiting through the side window. I have never heard of removing the rear window of a truck during the loading process. That is a new one for me.
Check out the patent application:
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20170334462.pdf
So how does Amtrak load these on the Auto Train. Certainly they don’t remove the back windows!
@Michael Lampman I read something about a “Plate J” for this car, but you can’t always believe what you read.
So, does it still fit plate F?
Picture please.
On https://m.amtrak.com/h5/r/www.amtrak.com/auto-train-boarding-and-vehicle-requirements there is a 84” width restriction. Not sure if or how much that would apply to the kind of large trucks this car is designed to carry.