a previous thread Capitol Limited has morphed into TOFC talk, so I am starting over here. A few other members offered some good information on that thread. I have been researching 50's era TOFC for my future layout. I plan on a yard that demonstrates circus loading with chains and hitches, clejan, and flexi-van service, with a narrative that a local industry has special trailers carry fragile equipment to be sent to different mainlines using different methods. I found a link to Railway Age magazine with some really good pictures and descriptions. This issue is from July 1st 1957. I will post a series or articles FYI this one is on a new tractor for circus loading. Note that both the front and rear axles steer. Any new operation which starts with conventional, existing equipment soon develops specialized gear for the specific job—and piggyback is no exception. Latest device to leave the drawing board and enter the pilot-model stage is a high-mobility “Trailer Spotter,” developed by Four Wheel Drive Auto Company, Clintonville, Wis. Designed for maneuverability in congested areas, the “Trailer Spotter” features a driver's seat which rotates around a center steering column—thus enabling the driver to face in the direction of movement at all times. Two sets of accelerator and air brake pedals are provided, one for forward operation, the other for reverse. A single steering wheel guides the front wheels, with simultaneous or separate steering of rear wheels provided by a control lever on the steering column. Both steering controls are power assisted. “TRAILER SPOTTER” in action, backing truck trailer onto flat car in tests at Chicago. Cab offset permits driver to see alongside trailer during Two special features—a hydraulic elevating fifth wheel and a rear cab door—permit the driver to hook up, move and detach trailers without get ting down from the cab. The cab it self is offset to the left of the engine, to permit the driver to see back along side the trailer. Power is transmitted to the axle backing operation; seat swivel has driver always facing direction of travel. beneath the fifth wheel to drive the rear wheels. Four-wheel drive is avail able as an optional feature and a single-axle drive can be converted to four-wheel drive by changing the front axle and installing an extra propeller shaft. FWD’s “Trailer Spotter” is rated, according to the manufacturer, for kingpin loads up to 26,000 lb.
New Dolly' Fits Any Trailer—) A so-called “universal dolly” now makes it possible to quickly adapt any highway trailer for use with the Piggy Back, Inc., center-sill flat car. The new dolly is designed to help truckers lick an interchange problem. They needed a fast way to equip a trailed received in interchange so it could be forwarded on the center-sill car. Their own trailers, of course, have permanent dollies. Two men can install the new dolly on any trailer in under two minutes. Piggy-Back reports that all purchasers … of its cars soon will be using the dolly unit as regular UNIVERSAL DOLLY is simple in design, weighs just over equipment. 400 lbs and will fit any trailer rear axle. this turns a regular trailer into a clejan style TOFC
Interesting detail, with the trailer doors crossbraced against opening in transit. Forget the weathering here; use Glosscote instead. Fun Fact: Federal regulations forbade U.S. railroads from owning truck lines engaged in interstate transportation and most states enforced the same on intrastate carriage. Railroads could provide highway transportation only when "auxiliary and supplementary" to rail service. Piggyback fit the bill because it was primarily a rail service.
I visited the Classic Trains Magazine website today and happened upon a photo of an MILW pig trailer flat being spun on a turntable to get it properly oriented for unloading. I'd never thought of this vexing aspect of circus-style operations.
The Cotton Belt tried to do TOFC in the early 1930's, but no one seemed to care. Not many people realize it, but door-to-door delivery had little to do with it becoming a "thing". In 1952, when the Santa Fe started doing it, they touted that. They didn't want to state the real reason for it, because it would have involved airing dirty politics of a sort in public. Nothing keeps lettuce crisper than ice. That's not the only sort of fresh produce that travels best on ice, either. So, a great many farmers loved ice reefers, and fought against mechanical reefers. They threatened to boycott any railroad that operated them. The Santa Fe had lots of that sort of customers. It's no accident they were one of the last roads to get mechanical reefers, about 1955. But they did want to haul frozen food, which was a fast growing industry. You might notice all of the Santa Fe's early piggyback trailers were reefers...
There's a little early footage here, at the 26:35 mark. https://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/for-santa-fe-railfans.129615/#post-1121392
Hmm, that might explain why the B&O trailer ramp was right across the street from the roundhouse in Rossford OH.
When the B&O Ramp in Baltimore was located at Wicomoco Street - the ramp facility had 4 'straight' tracks each able to hold 7 intermodal cars for circus style unloading with Westward facing tractors. The ramp also had 2 'reverse' tracks that held a total of 7 cars for circus style unloading with Eastward facing tractors. All loading and unloading was done on these 6 tracks. A Road Train would arrive and the yard crew would spot the 35 car slots full - the ramp personnel would unsecure and unload all the trailers; then begin the process of reloading the cars with Outbound traffic. 3 tricks a day, 7 days a week. Most days between 75 and 90 cars were handled each day. All cars were TTX style flats with stanchions that raised and lowered.