1. CE 515 Railroad Engineering
History of Intermodal
“Transportation exists to conquer space and time -”

2. What is Intermodal?
“transportation involving more than one mode of transportation during a single journey.”
Rail
Truck
Container Ship
Barges

3. Beginnings Can date back to at least 1880s Long Island Rail Road
Hauled farm wagons from Long Island to New York City
Loaded wagons on flatcars and then put people and passengers in separate cars
Tapered off starting in 1890 and ended by 1894

4. Beginning of Current Intermodal
Started with Southern Pacific in 1953
By end of 1954 eighteen Class I railroads introduced piggybacking
Standardization problems

5. Interstate Highway Act
Established in 1956
Created the interstate highway system
Increased competition from trucks

6. 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

7. Collapsible Trailer Hitch
Invented in 1957 by Les Robinson
Eliminated tie-downs
Could be lowered allowing trailers to drive over it

8. 1960s International traffic began to develop
1966: 1st trans-Atlantic containers transported
Late 1960s: 1st trans-Pacific container services began

9. Land Bridge
Moving freight across the country from a port on one coast to a port on the other coast

10. 1970s Shift from retailer to wholesaler Mechanized Loading
Double-stack car
4-R Railroad Act

11. 1980s Deregulation via the Staggers Act (1980)
Allowed railroads to change price without interference
Become more competitive with trucks

12. Intermodal Traffic Growth