CE 515 Railroad Engineering

History of Intermodal

“Transportation exists to conquer space and time -”

What is Intermodal?

“transportation involving more than one mode of transportation during a single journey.”

• Rail• Truck• Container Ship• Barges

2

Beginnings

• Can date back to at least 1880s– Long Island Rail Road

3

Beginning of Current Intermodal

• Started with Southern Pacific in 1953

• By end of 1954 eighteen Class I railroads introduced piggybacking

• Standardization problems

4

Interstate Highway Act

• Established in 1956 • Created the interstate highway system• Increased competition from trucks

– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJBpg24A6Ok

5

Trailer on Flat Car

• Trailer on Flat Car service was offered• Allowed for shippers to load product in truck trailers

and then ship by rail• Required 40 jacks and chains

6

Collapsible Trailer Hitch

• Invented in 1957 by Les Robinson• Eliminated tie-downs• Could be lowered allowing trailers to drive over it

7

1960s

• International traffic began to develop

• 1966: 1st trans-Atlantic containers transported

• Late 1960s: 1st trans-Pacific container services began

8

Land Bridge

• Moving freight across the country from a port on one coast to a port on the other coast

9

1970s

• Shift from retailer to wholesaler

• Mechanized Loading

• Double-stack car

• 4-R Railroad Act

10

1980s

• Deregulation via the Staggers Act (1980)

• Allowed railroads to change price without interference

• Become more competitive with trucks

11

Intermodal Traffic Growth

1955 1965 1970 1980 1985 1990 20060

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Year

Mill

ion

Trai

lers

and

Con

tain

ers

12