Norfolk Southern 9839 leads Triple Crown RoadRailer train NS 255 westbound as the conductor gives a friendly wave, as they pass their counterpart NS 256, at Tolono, Illinois on August 24th, 2024, as they head west on the NS Lafayette District.
The NS RoadRailer trains are now a thing of the past as the last one ran yesterday, 25th of August 2024, and the service has now been discontinued and they will transition fully to standard double-stack trains.
According to Wikipedia: A RoadRailer is a trailer or semi-trailer that can be hauled on roads by a tractor unit and then by way of a fifth wheel coupling, operate in a unit train on railway lines. The RoadRailer system allows trailers to be pulled by locomotives without the use of flatcars, instead attaching trailers directly to bogies.
Triple Crown, a subsidiary of Norfolk Southern Railway, remains a user of RoadRailer transportation as of 2022. However, on August 12th, 2024, they announced the last RoadRailer Trains would be running the weekend of August 24 and 25, 2024. The RoadRailer trains will be replaced temporarily with Trailer on Flat Car (TOFC) service before transitioning fully to a standard double-stack container trains.
Tech Info: Nikon D810, RAW, Nikon 24-70 @ 26mm, f/5, 1/1600, ISO 100.