MT October - COFC question

[Mark5]

New 89' in 60s brown:

http://www.featherrivertrains.com/cgi-bin/webstore/shop.cgi?ud=BAIDDAYLAwAEABQUEhARHQUCBwAHCQMEBAgSEAAA&storeid=1&sortby=itemid&cols=1&c=detail.htm&t=main.detail.htm&itemid=072-00-220

Anyone know anything about the CAST containers (era in particular)?

This 89’ 4” COFC flat car with container is painted brown with white and yellow logo and white lettering. It was built in October 1968 and runs on Barber® Roller Bearing trucks. This flat car hauled containers, such as this owned by CAST Transportation, around the nation carrying a wide variety of freight.

Also, I am fairly ignorant on COFC flats, why the end "thingies" if this is a COFC flat?



Thanks!

Mark

[Mark5]

To semi answer my own question, it seems CAST was based in Toronto, and was focused on door-to-door service between most cities in North Europe and destinations in Quebec, Ontario and the Midwest.

Looks a "pass" on this one before I even look at the price.

[bbussey]

... Also, I am fairly ignorant on COFC flats, why the end "thingies" if this is a COFC flat?

Multi-purpose flatcar.

[H Lee]

New 89' in 60s brown:

http://www.featherrivertrains.com/cgi-bin/webstore/shop.cgi?ud=BAIDDAYLAwAEABQUEhARHQUCBwAHCQMEBAgSEAAA&storeid=1&sortby=itemid&cols=1&c=detail.htm&t=main.detail.htm&itemid=072-00-220

Anyone know anything about the CAST containers (era in particular)?

This 89’ 4” COFC flat car with container is painted brown with white and yellow logo and white lettering. It was built in October 1968 and runs on Barber® Roller Bearing trucks. This flat car hauled containers, such as this owned by CAST Transportation, around the nation carrying a wide variety of freight.

Also, I am fairly ignorant on COFC flats, why the end "thingies" if this is a COFC flat?



Thanks!

Mark

Most container flats are set up to load either containers or trailers so they have the end ramps.

I'm not sure that containers were even invented in 1968 so I think the brown scheme is NOT correct for a COFC carrying containers. Maybe MT just had lotsa left-over containers and used this as a chance to get them out of stock.

[Dave V]

I'm very interested in the flatcar but not with the container mounts.  The level of effort required to modify this to a TOFC is on par with that required to paint and decal another TOFC into this scheme.

Joe, can we revisit this scheme someday soon as a TOFC?

[Mark5]

There were containers in 1968 for sure.

[H Lee]

There were containers in 1968 for sure.

Sure there were some types of containers even in the 1940's and 50's ---- BUT, the kind we are familiar with and are represented by the MT models did not exist (and were only beginning to be standardized in the late 1960's). Containers were rarely to be seen on T/COFC's until the late 1970's early 1980's.

See the following info from From Wikipedia - During the first twenty years of growth containerization meant using completely different, and incompatible, container sizes and corner fittings from one country to another. There were dozens of incompatible container systems in the U.S. alone. Among the biggest operators, the Matson Navigation Company had a fleet of 24-foot (7.3 m) containers while Sea-Land Service, Inc used 35-foot (11 m) containers. The standard sizes and fitting and reinforcement norms that exist now evolved out of a series of compromises among international shipping companies, European railroads, U.S. railroads, and U.S. trucking companies. Four important ISO (International Organization for Standardization) recommendations standardised containerisation globally

    * January 1968: R-668 defined the terminology, dimensions and ratings
    * July 1968: R-790 defined the identification markings
    * January 1970: R-1161 made recommendations about corner fittings
    * October 1970: R-1897 set out the minimum internal dimensions of general purpose freight containers


So, I still say that the 89' foot COFC and MT 40' containers would not yet have been invented during the years that TOFC's were painted brown.

[wm3798]

What does the ISO have to say about those flanges? ;D

Lee

[lock4244]

CAST container traffic was a big contract on CP in the eighties (CN had it too at various times). I thought about gettin one, but the brown flat just wasn't something we saw up here in the 1980's, and for that matter, CN and CP had large fleets of their own COFC flats.

Did the Nice & Wealthy handle much container traffic (other than on the fmr NKP)?

[Atlanticflier]

TTAX photo from 1975 in BROWN paint:



CAST (Canadian Atlantic Sea Transport) was bought by CP Ships in 1994 and consolidated into CP Ships in 1995................

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Sometimes you really have to wonder about the planning process on stuff like this.

Let's take a good idea (COFC flats), and try to shake the sense out of it (mega era mismatch with containers).

Is MTL afraid of success? Sometimes I think so... so close. So, very close...

Dave, I must disagree though about making these TOFC cars. The container pedestals pop off, and while you might have to fill in the mounting holes, it's not that big of a deal. The hardware for the hitches is all still there.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

TTAX photo from 1975 in BROWN paint:

CAST was bought by CP Ships in 1994 and consolidated into CP Ships in 1995................

How long did it take you to get that info? That would've been a great choice of a combo! The brown flat and the silver SOUTHERN trailers.

[wcfn100]

So, I still say that the 89' foot COFC and MT 40' containers would not yet have been invented during the years that TOFC's were painted brown.

In January 1969 there were 149 89' TTAX flats nos. 970000-9700149 designated as FC, meaning they had container adoptors, hitches and end plates.  

So yes there were cars like this in the 60's, in brown, although the MT is not the exact flushdeck prototype IIRC.  I can't speak about the containers.

Now if we could just get someone interested in making some of the other 10,000+ trailer flats.  :


Jason

[Dave V]

Ed, great to know!  Are the hitch pedastals still there?  If so I have a pair of PRR TrucTrain Z-van trailers that will be VERY happy!!!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

In the past these came with (I think) the hitches in the box (both the raised and lowered ones). I can't swear they'll do that again, but we can hope.

The mounting holes (heh heh heh) and molded on parts are all there too.