Talk:Roadrailer

Europe

And this looks like something that could be applied much more in Europe 85.77.118.87 (talk) 06:32, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

75%-90% of Europe's inland goods are trucked. Likely a network effect, the rail system in the US is primarily private freight oriented, while Europe its subsidizes passenger rail (resulting in lighter/shorter trains). There is a push for more freight trains with the Gotthard Base Tunnel and Gomultimodal is piloting in 2017 intermodal container roadrailers. [1]
This is while Triple Crown has discontinued all but one roadrailer route (Detroit-K.C. auto parts) end of 2015 in favor of intermodal containers.[2] — Dispenser 02:11, 20 August 2016 (UTC)

A similar setup was indeed developed by Swiss companies SBB and Migros under the name "KombiRail", which was abandoned after a test period lasting a couple years. There's little information about it online (this is the only description I could find) and searching is difficult due to the apparently unrelated company also called KombiRail.--Somitomi (talk) 08:54, 10 April 2020 (UTC)

Try this Peter Horn User talk 04:50, 26 December 2021 (UTC)

Or this Ackermann, Peter Horn User talk 05:05, 26 December 2021 (UTC)

How many fifth wheels to a truck?

Side view of a Roadrailer's regular truck showing the connection between two trailer bodies. This image appears to show only
one fifth wheel.

If a trcuck has two fifth wheels, then each semi-trailer has a king pin both at the front end as well as at the rear end. This image shows that the rear of the trailer to the left does not rest on a fifth wheel but is attached to the trailer that follows it by a special coupling! The fifth wheel assembly is built to fit on the center plate of a regular truck, this is not a jacobs bogie as such. Peter Horn User talk 01:42, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

A closer look at the image tells me that the trailer to the right has a kingpin at the rear and it is the front of the trailer to the left that has the special coupling at the front. In any case there appears to be only one fifth wheel. Peter Horn User talk 01:50, 27 March 2011 (UTC) Peter Horn User talk 01:51, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

RoadRailer Connection Method

I believe the article is wrong about bogies and connection methods, but I have not edited it because I don't have sources/citations.

I worked RoadRailers for TripleCrown in the late '90s. Here is how ours were connected together:

The RoadRailer trailers were different from regular trailers in that they had a triangular "tongue" projecting from the front, as well as a horizontal slot in the rear. The train was connected together by placing the tongues into the slots. Thus, the trailers were connected to each other DIRECTLY. The bogies did nothing.

In train mode, the front of each trailer was supported ONLY by it's tongue, and the rear of each trailer was supported by a "bogie" (i.e. a train truck with a table on top). There are some important differences between a bogie table and a conventional 5th wheel: A bogie table is more-or-less rectangular and almost as wide as the trailer. And, whereas a conventional 5th wheel locks to the trailer's vertical pin, a bogie table locks to horizontal pins. These pins lock the table solid to the trailer. The trailer cannot rotate on the table, so the table rotates on the bogie instead. Again, this is in contrast to a 5th wheel.

The train is assembled from the back to the front. A forklift is used to stage bogies on the track, leaving more than a trailer-length space between each. Then, the rear-end of trailer #1 is mounted on bogie #1. Next, the rear-end of the trailer #2 is mounted on the bogie #2. The trailers are still separate at this point, but they are now resting on steel wheels instead of rubber. Finally, trailer #2 is backed into trailer #1, causing the two trailers to be coupled with the aforementioned tongue and slot. Trailer #1's "landing gear" legs are cranked up at this point. Repeat.

The tongue is a solid slab of steel a couple inches thick and it projects out about two feet. There is a vertical hole at the very tip of this triangular tongue, and a coupling pin inside the slot to lock the tongue in place. The coupling pin is thrown manually using a large wrench socket on the end of a 4 foot bar; there is no spring. The pin has an *extremely* tight fit, with no slack. Even the slightest bit of dirt will prevent the coupling pin from going through the hole in the tongue.

I suppose it's possible things may have changed in the last decade, but I haven't found any references. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.235.210.83 (talk) 03:43, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Disuse

The article here is a good bit out of date. As of 2019, road railer use had been discontinued by the railroads that once pulled them, with the trailers being sold off at various auctions. It's probably worth updating the page to reflect this. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 172.58.38.181 (talk) 06:03, 14 April 2019 (UTC)

Are you sure about this? Triple Crown's web site, www.triplecrownsvc.com/, shows they're still operating a Detroit to Kansas City route, as of April 2019. 216.197.64.122 (talk) 18:16, 20 April 2019 (UTC)

Why isn't this used to carry passengers?

Something with this technology and passenger seating could be used as a bus or as a train car. On routes that currently require passengers to transfer between buses and trains, something that could just drive on and off the tracks would be much more efficient...

47.139.46.1 (talk) 03:45, 14 August 2020 (UTC)