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TOFC question

Robert G P
 

Hello all,

I'd like to ask how far from home territory would trailers travel by way of tofc in the 1950's? 

Take C&O for example, would a trailer loaded somewhere in Virginia be sent to Colorado or Texas if thats where its respective load was consignee'd? Or would that likely be put in a boxcar or even transloaded into one (once on the C&O if initially loaded by the shipper in a C&O trailer)? 

Or was tofc in that timeframe primarily used for home range traffic (once again using C&O as an example, say Richmond to Cincinnati or Chicago? 

If the former is the case, lets say theres a SP or NP trailer in Va on the C&O which brought a load east - would the trailer be used to ship the westbound load to Colorado? (Like how a boxcar could be used). 

-Thanks!
Tim O'Connor
 


Piggyback was a HEAVILY regulated service with different service plans that reflected the various
federal and state regulations. There was very limited interline service (say, NP & SP between Seattle
and San Francisco). Private trucking company trailers however would be seen on numerous railroads,
constrained by the regulations on private truckers!

I very much doubt you'd see an SP or NP trailer on any eastern railroad in the 1950's.


On 8/14/2022 12:55 AM, Robert G P wrote:

Hello all,

I'd like to ask how far from home territory would trailers travel by way of tofc in the 1950's? 

Take C&O for example, would a trailer loaded somewhere in Virginia be sent to Colorado or Texas if thats where its respective load was consignee'd? Or would that likely be put in a boxcar or even transloaded into one (once on the C&O if initially loaded by the shipper in a C&O trailer)? 

Or was tofc in that timeframe primarily used for home range traffic (once again using C&O as an example, say Richmond to Cincinnati or Chicago? 

If the former is the case, lets say theres a SP or NP trailer in Va on the C&O which brought a load east - would the trailer be used to ship the westbound load to Colorado? (Like how a boxcar could be used). 

-Thanks!


--
Tim O'Connor
Sterling, Massachusetts
John Mateyko
 

On the surface, this is a simple question.  However, as Tim has referenced, there were many piggyback plans.
For sure, Plan I, Plan II, II 1/4, Plan II 1/2, Plan II 3/4, Plan III, Plan IV and Plan V. Differences were determined by who owned the trailer, who performed the drayage on each end and who owned the flat car.  John Mateyko
Robert G P
 

So it was more of a home region operation? 


On Sun, Aug 14, 2022 at 12:01 PM John Mateyko <rattler21@...> wrote:
On the surface, this is a simple question.  However, as Tim has referenced, there were many piggyback plans.
For sure, Plan I, Plan II, II 1/4, Plan II 1/2, Plan II 3/4, Plan III, Plan IV and Plan V. Differences were determined by who owned the trailer, who performed the drayage on each end and who owned the flat car.  John Mateyko

Robert G P
 

I had always wondered on this topic. Seemed like it could get difficult really fast from an operational perspective. 


On Sun, Aug 14, 2022 at 12:38 PM Robert G P <bobgp5109@...> wrote:
So it was more of a home region operation? 

On Sun, Aug 14, 2022 at 12:01 PM John Mateyko <rattler21@...> wrote:
On the surface, this is a simple question.  However, as Tim has referenced, there were many piggyback plans.
For sure, Plan I, Plan II, II 1/4, Plan II 1/2, Plan II 3/4, Plan III, Plan IV and Plan V. Differences were determined by who owned the trailer, who performed the drayage on each end and who owned the flat car.  John Mateyko

Tim O'Connor
 


And in addition, state authorities (e.g. Public Utility Commission in CA) restricted which plans could be
applied to which routes !! Truckers lobbied successfully against the SP intruding on their services between
California and Oregon for years.

On 8/14/2022 12:01 PM, John Mateyko wrote:

On the surface, this is a simple question.  However, as Tim has referenced, there were many piggyback plans.
For sure, Plan I, Plan II, II 1/4, Plan II 1/2, Plan II 3/4, Plan III, Plan IV and Plan V. Differences were determined by who owned the trailer, who performed the drayage on each end and who owned the flat car.  John Mateyko

--
Tim O'Connor
Sterling, Massachusetts
Tim O'Connor
 


If you're really interested there is plenty of literature out there. Look for
Piggyback And Containers from Four Ways West books.


On 8/14/2022 12:39 PM, Robert G P wrote:

I had always wondered on this topic. Seemed like it could get difficult really fast from an operational perspective. 
On Sun, Aug 14, 2022 at 12:38 PM Robert G P <bobgp5109@...> wrote:
So it was more of a home region operation? 
On Sun, Aug 14, 2022 at 12:01 PM John Mateyko <rattler21@...> wrote:
On the surface, this is a simple question.  However, as Tim has referenced, there were many piggyback plans.
For sure, Plan I, Plan II, II 1/4, Plan II 1/2, Plan II 3/4, Plan III, Plan IV and Plan V. Differences were determined by who owned the trailer, who performed the drayage on each end and who owned the flat car.  John Mateyko


--
Tim O'Connor
Sterling, Massachusetts
Brian Carlson
 

And If you are Really Really interested you need the two volume "The TTX Story" published by the PRRT&HS a few years ago. link for reference only https://biblio.co.nz/book/ttx-story-vol-1-vol-2/d/1175228639

Brian J. Carlson, P.E.
Cheektowaga NY


On Sunday, August 14, 2022 at 02:28:07 PM EDT, Tim O'Connor <timboconnor@...> wrote:



If you're really interested there is plenty of literature out there. Look for
Piggyback And Containers from Four Ways West books.


On 8/14/2022 12:39 PM, Robert G P wrote:
I had always wondered on this topic. Seemed like it could get difficult really fast from an operational perspective. 
On Sun, Aug 14, 2022 at 12:38 PM Robert G P <bobgp5109@...> wrote:

So it was more of a home region operation? 
On Sun, Aug 14, 2022 at 12:01 PM John Mateyko <rattler21@...> wrote:
On the surface, this is a simple question.  However, as Tim has referenced, there were many piggyback plans.
For sure, Plan I, Plan II, II 1/4, Plan II 1/2, Plan II 3/4, Plan III, Plan IV and Plan V. Differences were determined by who owned the trailer, who performed the drayage on each end and who owned the flat car.  John Mateyko


--
Tim O'Connor
Sterling, Massachusetts

--
Brian J. Carlson, P.E.
Cheektowaga NY
Andy Miller
 

Vol. 25 #3, Aug 1992,  of the PRRT&H Society’s magazine THE KEYSTONE has an excellent article on TrucTrain, its predecessors, its equipment, and its regulatory environment.  See it you can get access to a copy.

 

Regards,

Andy Miller

 

From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> On Behalf Of John Mateyko
Sent: Sunday, August 14, 2022 12:02 PM
To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] TOFC question

 

On the surface, this is a simple question.  However, as Tim has referenced, there were many piggyback plans.
For sure, Plan I, Plan II, II 1/4, Plan II 1/2, Plan II 3/4, Plan III, Plan IV and Plan V. Differences were determined by who owned the trailer, who performed the drayage on each end and who owned the flat car.  John Mateyko

Robert G P
 

Thanks for the recommendations. I havent invested a lot in tofc literature as most seem to focus on post 1965 operations. (Of course thats understandable as its when tofc really started to get big) I eventually probably will though just to obtain a better understanding of it. 



On Sun, Aug 14, 2022 at 4:55 PM Andy Miller <aslmmiller@...> wrote:

Vol. 25 #3, Aug 1992,  of the PRRT&H Society’s magazine THE KEYSTONE has an excellent article on TrucTrain, its predecessors, its equipment, and its regulatory environment.  See it you can get access to a copy.

 

Regards,

Andy Miller

 

From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> On Behalf Of John Mateyko
Sent: Sunday, August 14, 2022 12:02 PM
To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io
Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] TOFC question

 

On the surface, this is a simple question.  However, as Tim has referenced, there were many piggyback plans.
For sure, Plan I, Plan II, II 1/4, Plan II 1/2, Plan II 3/4, Plan III, Plan IV and Plan V. Differences were determined by who owned the trailer, who performed the drayage on each end and who owned the flat car.  John Mateyko

Ted Larson
 

I have several piggyback collections in my Pinterest pages. 
They do show many non railroad trailers.  
Here are my collections. 












--
Ted Larson
Trainweb.org/MHRR   ---   GN in 1965   ---   NASG.org 
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