Athearn announces tri-level autoracks in HO, start sending your letters.

[wcfn100]

http://www.athearn.com/newsletter/082616/02_GEN_89ft_Tri-Level_Autorack_082616.pdf

Jason

[wazzou]

Wow, $55.00 for a freight car that would look pretty stupid with just the one in a train...yikes!

[bbussey]

Same flatcar as the bi-level, correct?  It's only a matter of time before these get announced in N.

[learmoia]

Same flatcar as the bi-level, correct?  It's only a matter of time before these get announced in N.

Time to start working on more screens

[nkalanaga]

One autorack in a train wasn't unheard of in the Northwest in the early 70s, although it also wasn't common.  If you have a mid-sized town, with a regional auto dealership, before unit trains became the rule, you could easily have a single rack as needed.

Today, I would agree with you.  I don't think I've seen one rack, in a general merchandise train, since the fully enclosed version took over.

I'd like to know the actual dates for these cars.  They all seem to show mid 60s NEW dates, even on the repainted cars, and for those with consolidated stencils, they all show "4-77".  I think Athearn only has one piece of stencil artwork for each style, and uses that one on every car it fits...  I know the NP car is appropriate for my era, but the others?

[Mark5]

The N&W car is good for post 1970 (yellow flat).

[Mark5]

Wow, $55.00 for a freight car that would look pretty stupid with just the one in a train...yikes!

No argument here, but the HO bi-levels were $50 (vs the N versions which listed at $40).

Mark

[sirenwerks]

One autorack in a train wasn't unheard of in the Northwest in the early 70s, although it also wasn't common.  If you have a mid-sized town, with a regional auto dealership, before unit trains became the rule, you could easily have a single rack as needed.

Potentially dumb question, but how would said dealership unload such a car?  I presume specialized ramps weren't the norm in even mid-size burgs, so would they just park it on the team track and wing it or were regional dealerships that advanced?

[C855B]

The ramps aren't that big a deal. We have an unload terminal not too far away and the ramps are rather spindly and clearly of a "portable" nature. I can easily surmise smaller cities having a facility. The only reason I can think of for centralized mass unloading is the '80s trend of corporate consolidation.

I just wish the SP cars didn't have the U-1 dot. That dates them after 1978, and by then we'd be talking about security panels.

[Mark5]

Here's a photo of rack unloading in Winston-Salem, NC circa 1969:

https://imagebase.lib.vt.edu/imagebase/norfolksouthern/full/ns1196.jpeg

Mark

[wazzou]

Here's a photo of rack unloading in Winston-Salem, NC circa 1969:

https://imagebase.lib.vt.edu/imagebase/norfolksouthern/full/ns1196.jpeg

Mark

Right, more in the setting I would imagine being most likely.  Distribution facility with multiple cars and large ramps.
I think even in the late 60's, the Milwaukee Road and UP were partnered in a new facility like this in Kent, WA that then trucked cars to the dealerships in large and small communities throughout Western Washington.

[Missaberoad]

Right, more in the setting I would imagine being most likely.  Distribution facility with multiple cars and large ramps.
I think even in the late 60's, the Milwaukee Road and UP were partnered in a new facility like this in Kent, WA that then trucked cars to the dealerships in large and small communities throughout Western Washington.

http://www.milwaukeeroadarchives.com/PostWar/1969%20Railway%20Age%20Kent%20Auto%20Facility.pdf

Milwaukee road had a number of large facilities like that, Kent was one, Council Bluffs & South Minneapolis were others.
I'm sure there were smaller facilities tho, what would be the furthest distance a truck would handle such traffic? Would trucks handle everything local between the Twin cities and the coast?

another possibly could be a specialized facility, even today Winnipeg has a ramp that accepts 2-3 cars, used primarily to unload luxury cars. (we also have a large facility on the other side of town however.)

If these cars made it to N I would have to push the boundaries of my era yet again... 

[unittrain]

N scale please!! I got several of the bilevels these are really nice autoracks Athearn has produced. Adding ESM vandal panels to some of them also

[wcfn100]

In the CGW 1965 train lists, trains 41/43 would carry between 1 and 9 autoracks bound for Kansas City which presumably went on farther west.

The CGW did have a flat car equipped with a ramp in Des Moines which would allow you to unload an autorack at a regular unloading ramp.  I know RR's like the MILW, RDG, and CNW had similar cars.

It will interesting to see how they tool the tri-level as the the bi-level is a single piece which I don't think will be possible with this one.

Jason

[sirenwerks]

I'd like to find more images of the rack pictured in the railway Age post.