Well Cars, Hauling Today's Intermodal Needs

Today’s well cars go by many names but their primary purpose has not changed over the past twenty years or so, to haul international containers in loads of one or two (typically two if tunnel and bridge clearance will allow) from port to market and vice-versa. While the car has been embraced by the railroads for the efficiencies it allows, it is actually nothing more than a glorified flat car. The well car was also just another step in the evolution of COFC service (said "Cof-cee"), or Container On Flat Car.

The beginnings of COFC actually date back to the 1940s and 1950s when railroads began the widespread use of TOFC service (said "Tof-cee," the Balitmore & Ohio actually employed the saying when it marketed its TOFCEE service for many years through the 1960s and 1970s), or Trailer On Flat Car. This service was pretty straightforward as it basically involved standard 40-foot flatcars in use to haul truck trailers in large numbers to both benefit the truck companies by transporting several of their trailers over long distances, [usually] quickly and more cheaply to market than the trucking companies could themselves, as well as by providing railroads with another means of traffic. While it was experimented for a number of years in one form or another by several railroads the little Chicago Great Western, a granger road operating trackage west of Chicago in the Heartland, is credited with pioneering TOFC’s widespread use.

As the 1950s gave way to the 1960s the TOFC service, also known as “piggyback” service, began to really gain momentum with many Class Is using it in one form or another and building hubs and centers to load and unload trailers. Railroads began blocking entire trains of trailers and they were usually given top priority over the particular route they operated (often known as "hotshots") Names like TrailerJet, Apollo, Razorback, Thunderhawk, and Flexi-Van services began popping up on many railroads.

The change from TOFC to COFC service began when the large ocean commerce industry began development on a new standard international container that could more efficiently be loaded and unloaded at world ports. What they came up with was today’s rectangle box configuration of 20 feet high by 40 feet long. While railroads would continue to employ piggyback service (and still do, today with specialized cars known as spine cars) there was a clear shift in COFC service when this new container became widely used.

For railroads, the widespread use of the new container began in the 1980s. However, at first they found the container rather difficult to transport because there was no specialized car to haul the container and they had to be loaded on traditional flatcars. The biggest problems railroads faced with this setup were the inefficiencies the car provided. First, only one container could be loaded on each car because two would make for a very dangerously high center of gravity, not to mention that at that time many tunnel clearances could not accommodate such heights. Second, the containers were built to interlock with one another but the flatcar not only allowed one per car but also each had to be manually secured with chains, which took an excruciatingly long time.

This could not do and after working with freight car builders the railroads came up with the unique well cars of today, which are sort of a mix between a gondola and center-depressed flatcar (used to haul extremely heavy loads, they typically are equipped with six axles or more) which allowed for two containers to be easily transported in each car with both sitting low enough that tunnel clearances became less of an issue.

Today well cars can be found in widespread use all across the country, better known as intermodal service, especially on the Norfolk Southern and BNSF Railways, which haul hundreds of thousands of containers per year and makes up for a large portion of their traffic base (for instance, if you live near the BNSF Railway Transcon between Los Angeles and Chicago you can witness literally hundreds of nothing but container trains traveling between the two cities every day).

For more reading about well cars consider the book, Freight Train Cars, from Mike Schafer, one of the leading authors covering all corners of the railroad industry (from its history to present day operations). The book gives an excellent general history and overview on all of the common freight car types and if you are interested in learning more about them, or you are simply looking to better understanding their history and development you should very much enjoy Mr. Schafer’s book. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing this book please visit The Railroad Diamond by clicking the tab in the menu to your left marked "TRD Store".