TOFC Trains

[Justinmiller171]

Today I was at a family gathering, and the house I was at was within viewing distance of the RR tracks, well I heard the sound of a train horn out in the distance and ran outside hoping I wasn't too late to see it, First I saw a few UP engines, Then some Container cars, and then to my surprise were about 10 flat-cars with trailers on them. This is the first time I have ever seen a TOFC train and I had thought they stopped using them in favor of Containers, since that is almost all I ever see.

My question is: Is seeing a TOFC train unusual or am I just unlucky and haven't seen any until just today?

[P5se Camelback]

There is a thread on here somewhere involving TOFC movements. If I recall, FedEx13 is involved in the thread. So ... look him up in the member list and check out his posts and you should be able to find it. It had to do with FedEx TOFC's, and had anyone seen them.

O.K., now ... go look it up.

[tomustang]

Very common in my area, have been since the beginning of intermodal well cars

[railohio]

Definitely need to get out more.

[Russ Bellinis]

TOFC is as common as COFC here in So Cal. Often the two are combined as in the train you saw. On the BNSF, different trains run at diferent speeds and have different priority levels. The shipper pays extra for guaranteed faster delivery times, and so most of the trains will have a combination of COFC & TOFC, with priority being the overriding factor on train make up.

[Justinmiller171]

Thanks guys! I thought they were still around but I have never seen any since containers became so common, I defiantly need to do some more rail-fanning