Today's dose of Eds Law

[Iain]

http://railpictures.net/photo/583638/

[wazzou]

I don't get it? 
The Modesto Empire & Traction ran a fleet of these things well into the 90's, if not later.
Not rare or Ed's law worthy.

[Iain]

I don't get it? 
The Modesto Empire & Traction ran a fleet of these things well into the 90's, if not later.
Not rare or Ed's law worthy.

Not the 70 tonner itself, but, rather, what it's pulling.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Yeah, a TOFC flat. That's not outrageous.

If it were a GE switcher pulling a stack train out on the high iron, you might have something.

[Denver Road Doug]

I mean, first of all it's a cool pic.   Thanks for sharing.

Second, I have to say it is someone odd.   I think generally a single loaded TOFC car is pretty rare.   Tied to a gon, pulled by a fairly obscure GE switcher.   I think it qualifies, personally.   

[C855B]

... I think generally a single loaded TOFC car is pretty rare. ...

:touching finger to nose:

Yes. TOFC - and COFC for that matter - require specialized facilities, usually too costly just for an infrequent single load. It is entirely possible that this lone car was going to an improvised circus ramp, but that being said, there's got to be "more to the story," as the saying goes.

[Philip H]

The Lousiana and Delta has a ramp in Schiever, LA that's an old flatcar cut off. I took a boatload of pics of it in 2010 during Deepwater Horizon. Would work well for this purpose.

[nkalanaga]

Probably not common, but I saw an equally unusual sight in the late 60s in Yakima, WA.  At the time the Yakima Valley Transportation electric line was still running as a common carrier freight railroad.  It had been built as a streetcar line, but passenger service was long gone, and it hauled mostly refrigerator cars from the fruit packing sheds.  On this day, they were trying to get a Trailer Train flat around a street corner.  It didn't want to go...

As they gad the intersection blocked, we had to sit and wait.  I was in grade school, on a field trip, and was probably the only one in the bus not getting impatient.  This was a lot more fun than the museum we were going to!   In fact, I don't remember the museum at all...

When we got there, the crew was under the car, disconnecting the brake rods from the trucks.  When that was done, they greased the rails, uncoupled the car from the freight motor, connected the two with a length of chain, and, with much squealing and groaning, drug the car around the curve.  I didn't get to see them put everything back together, as the bus driver took off as soon as the intersection was clear.

I assume they went through  the same process going back to the UP/BN interchange, and wonder if they left the brakes disconnected until the return trip.  The motor should have been able to control one car without train brakes, so it's possible.

[Iain]

:touching finger to nose:

Yes. TOFC - and COFC for that matter - require specialized facilities, usually too costly just for an infrequent single load. It is entirely possible that this lone car was going to an improvised circus ramp, but that being said, there's got to be "more to the story," as the saying goes.

There was (is still, maybe) a ramp in Sanford that they used; from what I understand, they'd get a TOFC load about once or twice a month.  ATW also had a little Plymouth switcher, so it was possible to catch that pulling a single flat.