Autorack
Encyclopedia
An autorack, also known as an auto carrier, is a specialized piece of railroad rolling stock
Rolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...

 used to transport automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

s and light trucks, generally from factories to automotive distributors. Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

 also uses them in its Auto Train
Auto Train
Auto Train is an scheduled train service for passengers and their automobiles operated by Amtrak between Lorton, Virginia , and Sanford, Florida . Although there are similar services around the world, the Auto Train is the only one of its kind in the United States...

, which carries passengers and their vehicles.

History

In the early 20th century, when automobiles were still new technology, their production levels were low enough that they could be shipped in sufficient quantities in boxcar
Boxcar
A boxcar is a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry general freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is probably the most versatile, since it can carry most loads...

s. Two to four automobiles would usually fit into one boxcar. But as the automobile industry grew in size, railroads found that they needed to modify the boxcars for more efficient loading. Some modifications included longer boxcars, larger sliding double side doors located near one end of the boxcar, or doors located on the boxcar ends.

These modifications helped, but the demand for new automobiles outpaced the railroads' abilities to build and modify boxcars in which to ship them. In 1923, the Grand Trunk Western Railroad
Grand Trunk Western Railroad
The Grand Trunk Western Railroad is an important subsidiary of the Canadian National Railway , constituting the majority of CN's Chicago Division ....

 experimented with modifying a group of 61 feet (18.59 m)-long wood-frame flat cars to increase their capacity by adding collapsible frames to allow for double-deck operation. The concept was not perfected and therefore failed to gain acceptance. In the 1940s and 1950s, some railroads experimented with automobile-loading assemblies that would lift one or more automobiles above others within a boxcar. The success of these assemblies was limited due to their special use and specific size; it proved uneconomical to maintain a fleet of these assemblies that could only be loaded into boxcars from the ends of the cars.

By this time, in the United States, most circuses still traveled by rail. Circuses were major haulers of wheeled vehicles, carrying all of their vehicles on flat cars, usually behind their own passenger cars or in separate sections of their trains; basically, one train would haul the performers and employees while a second train would haul the vehicles and freight. The circus solution to loading vehicles was to use a string of flatcars. A temporary ramp was placed at the end of the flatcars and temporary bridge plates spanned the gaps between adjacent flatcars; the road vehicles were driven or towed up onto one car and then driven or towed down the train. This type of vehicle loading became known as "circus style" due to its frequent use by circuses.

In the 1960s, most railroads took the cue from circuses and started loading their own flatcars in this manner. But, loading even up to six automobiles onto one flat car left a large amount of space above the vehicles that was unused. The natural solution was to take the temporary assemblies that were used to stack and load vehicles within boxcars and permanently attach them to the flatcars. The assemblies, also called racks, created two levels on which automobiles could be loaded. To complete the flatcar, foldaway bridges were added to the ends of the flatcar decks to allow the vehicles to be driven the entire length of a train for loading. Such flatcars eliminated the need for specialized equipment to load and unload boxcar racks. All they needed now was a ramp at the right height.

In the 1950s, in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, VW Beetle production was increasing beyond the capacity of highway trucks
Semi-trailer truck
A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semi, tractor-trailer, or articulated truck or articulated lorry, is an articulated vehicle consisting of a towing engine , and a semi-trailer A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semi, tractor-trailer, or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) articulated truck...

 (autocarriers). Volkswagen
Volkswagen
Volkswagen is a German automobile manufacturer and is the original and biggest-selling marque of the Volkswagen Group, which now also owns the Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, SEAT, and Škoda marques and the truck manufacturer Scania.Volkswagen means "people's car" in German, where it is...

 engineers worked with German railroads to design a railroad car that was basically an extra long version of a vehicle hauling trailer. The design they came up with was able to carry 10 vehicles on one car. VW's two-level flatcar design effectively became the first autorack.

In late 1957, Canadian National
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....

 Railroad (CN) introduced a group of auto carriers which represented a new innovation. The CN bi-level auto-rack cars had end-doors. They were huge by the standards of the time; the cars were 75 ft (22.86 m) long and could carry 8 vehicles. These cars were a big success and helped lead to the development of today's enclosed auto racks.

Autoracks quickly lengthened to around 80 ft (24.38 m) to increase their loading capacity. This made them about as long as the average railroad passenger car of the time; if the cars were much longer, they wouldn't be able to operate in interchange service due to clearance on curves. Yet, the railroads could still do better. It didn't take long for the first three-level autoracks to appear on American rails.

Transporting new automobiles

During the 1960s, specially built auto carriers took over rail transportation of newly completed automobiles in North America. They carried more cars in the same space and were easier to load and unload than the boxcars formerly used. Arthur Crookshank of the New York Central Railroad
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...

 is credited with having the first set of cars manufactured for use in the late 1950s. Ever-larger auto carriers and specialized terminals were developed by Norfolk and Western Railway
Norfolk and Western Railway
The Norfolk and Western Railway , a US class I railroad, was formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It had headquarters in Roanoke, Virginia for most of its 150 year existence....

 (N&W) and other carriers. Also in this decade, autoracks were built in three-level configurations so railroads could haul more of the smaller vehicles of the era; two-level autoracks were still in use for van
Van
A van is a kind of vehicle used for transporting goods or groups of people.In British English usage, it can be either specially designed or based on a saloon or sedan car, the latter type often including derivatives with open backs...

s and light trucks
Pickup truck
A pickup truck is a light motor vehicle with an open-top rear cargo area .-Definition:...

.

The only problem left was that the new autorack cars did not provide any protection from flying debris or from the weather. In the manner CN had developed in the 1950s, in the 1970s other North American railroads began refining their autorack cars. They began installing side sheathing to protect the vehicles from impact and debris. Roofs were added to most autoracks in the 1980s, as railroads modified their bridge and tunnel clearances to accept them. End doors were added in the latter portion of the decade, both to prevent damage and to deter people from boarding the cars and riding the vehicles loaded in them.

Vert-A-Pac

The Chevrolet Vega
Chevrolet Vega
The Chevrolet Vega is a subcompact, two-door automobile that was produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors for the 1971-1977 model years. Named after the star Vega, the car was powered by a lightweight aluminum-block inline four-cylinder engine...

 was designed to be shipped vertically, nose down. Special rail cars known as Vert-A-Pac cars designed jointly between General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...

 and the Southern Pacific Railroad
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific Transportation Company , earlier Southern Pacific Railroad and Southern Pacific Company, and usually simply called the Southern Pacific or Espee, was an American railroad....

 and held 30 Vegas versus 18 in normal tri-level autoracks. Each Vega was fitted with four removable, cast-steel sockets inserted into the undercarriage.
Chevrolet conducted vibration
Vibration
Vibration refers to mechanical oscillations about an equilibrium point. The oscillations may be periodic such as the motion of a pendulum or random such as the movement of a tire on a gravel road.Vibration is occasionally "desirable"...

 and low-speed crash tests to make sure nose-down Vegas wouldn't shift or be damaged in railcar collisions. Chevrolet's goal was to deliver Vegas topped with fluids and ready to drive to the dealership. To do this Vega engineers had to design a special engine oil
Oil
An oil is any substance that is liquid at ambient temperatures and does not mix with water but may mix with other oils and organic solvents. This general definition includes vegetable oils, volatile essential oils, petrochemical oils, and synthetic oils....

 baffle to prevent oil from entering the No. 1 cylinder, batteries
Car battery
An automotive battery is a type of rechargeable battery that supplies electric energy to an automobile. Usually this refers to an SLI battery to power the starter motor, the lights, and the ignition system of a vehicle’s engine...

 had filler caps located high up on the rear edge of the case to prevent acid spilling, the carburetor float bowl had a special tube that drained gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...

 into the vapor canister during shipment, and the windshield washer bottle stood at a 45 degree angle. Plastic spacers were wedged in beside the powertrain to prevent damage to engine and transmission mounts. The wedges were removed when cars were unloaded. The rail car doors were opened and closed by means of a forklift.

Trailer Train Company

Although railroads were just beginning to see the advantages that autoracks delivered in the 1960s, most North American railroads were reluctant to invest in such specially built equipment. The Trailer Train Company, organized by the Pennsylvania Railroad
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American Class I railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy", the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania....

 and the Norfolk & Western in 1955, stepped in to ease the railroads' financial burden a bit. Trailer Train purchased the flat cars from the rail car manufacturers, and the railroads that wanted to operate autoracks, purchased the racks that were installed on those flat cars. Such cars were easily spotted at trackside due to the reporting marks identifying Trailer Train on the flat car portion of the car and the railroad's logo (usually much larger) in the upper portion of the rack.

This arrangement worked so well that nearly every autorack operating in the US was owned. Trailer Train became TTX Company
TTX Company
TTX Company is a private company that owns a large fleet of freight cars and provides them to stockholding railroads. It also provides freightcar management services...

 in 1991; since then many railroads have themselves purchased the flat cars on which the racks were installed and TTX has itself expanded into purchasing and leasing out other railroad rolling stock
Rolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...

. The development of enclosed autoracks also helped make several other innovative services work well.

New designs and current usage

Railroads of today are still grappling with the problem of loading more and larger vehicles onto autoracks. One popular solution is to create a double-length car that is articulated over a single middle truck
Bogie
A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...

 so that each half of the car is about the same length as a conventional autorack. These cars, which can be seen in operation on many of the railroads of the western US (but also seen occasionally in the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...

 and Southern Ontario
Southern Ontario
Southern Ontario is a region of the province of Ontario, Canada that lies south of the French River and Algonquin Park. Depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts, its surface area would cover between 14 to 15% of the province. It is the southernmost region of...

), are brand named AutoMax cars. These cars, built by Gunderson
Gunderson
Gunderson is a surname of Norwegian origin which can refer to these people:*Lance Armstrong, born Lance Edward Gunderson, American cyclist.*Carl Gunderson , Governor of South Dakota*Steven Craig Gunderson , United States congressman...

 (a subsidiary of The Greenbrier Companies
The Greenbrier Companies
The Greenbrier Companies is a publicly traded transportation manufacturing corporation based in Lake Oswego, Oregon, United States. Predominantly an American company, Greenbrier specializes in transportation services, notably barge and railroad car manufacturing, railroad car refurbishment, and...

) measure 145 in 4 in (44.3 m) long and 20 in 2 in (6.15 m) tall; they feature adjustable interior decks to carry up to 22 light truck
Light truck
Light truck or light duty truck is a U.S. classification for trucks or truck-based vehicles with a payload capacity of less than 4,000 pounds...

s and minivan
Minivan
Minivan is a type of van designed for personal use. Minivans are typically either two-box or one box designs for maximum interior volume – and are taller than a sedan, hatchback, or a station wagon....

s.

The railroads became the primary long-distance transporter of completed automobiles, one of few commodities where the industry has been able to overcome trucking in competition. Using the enclosed tri-level autoracks, they were able to provide both lower costs and greater protection from in-transit damage (such as that which may occur due to weather
Weather
Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...

 and traffic
Traffic
Traffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel...

 conditions on unenclosed truck
Semi-trailer truck
A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semi, tractor-trailer, or articulated truck or articulated lorry, is an articulated vehicle consisting of a towing engine , and a semi-trailer A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semi, tractor-trailer, or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) articulated truck...

 semi-trailer
Semi-trailer
A semi-trailer is a trailer without a front axle. A large proportion of its weight is supported by a road tractor, a detachable front axle assembly known as a dolly, or the tail of another trailer...

s). When the railroad companies went from the open autoracks to the enclosed, they were able to reduce freight damage claims. The enclosed rail cars prevented the autos from getting damaged from falling or thrown rocks, bullets and other forms of vandalism. They also stopped the theft of autos and parts from autos and kept hobos from living in the automobiles.

Latest innovations

In 2004, Canadian National
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....

 was at the forefront of autorack technology again by using light-weight aluminum
Aluminium
Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

. The new cars, built by Johnstown America Corporation beginning in December 2004, are brand named AVC, an acronym for Aluminum Vehicle Carrier. Two hundred new aluminum autoracks promise a softer ride, a wider interior, superior door-edge protection, and a rust-free interior from older steel versions. Canadian Pacific Railway
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

 has ordered 375 of these new cars as well. The new cars built for Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

 Auto Train service differ from those built for CN and CP; the Amtrak cars are 3 inches (76.2 mm) lower, or 19 in 11 in (6.07 m), in height, and use solid side panels instead of the perforated panels operated in freight service.

Combining autoracks and passenger cars

A rail transport service where passengers can take their automobile along with them on their journey is known as "Motorail" in Europe and as 'Auto Train
Auto Train
Auto Train is an scheduled train service for passengers and their automobiles operated by Amtrak between Lorton, Virginia , and Sanford, Florida . Although there are similar services around the world, the Auto Train is the only one of its kind in the United States...

" in North America. Passengers are carried in normal passenger cars or in sleeping cars on longer journeys, while the cars are loaded into autoracks, car carriers, or flatcars.

Auto-Train Corp

On December 6, 1971 Auto-Train Corporation introduced a new and innovative rail transportation service for both passengers and their automobiles in the United States, operating scheduled service between Lorton, Virginia
Lorton, Virginia
Lorton is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population is 27,709 as of the 2008 census estimate.-History:...

 (near Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

) and Sanford, Florida
Sanford, Florida
Sanford is a city in, and the county seat of, Seminole County, Florida, United States. The population was 38,291 at the 2000 census. As of 2009, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 50,998...

, near Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...

.

The Auto Train
Auto-Train Corporation
Auto-Train Corporation was a privately owned railroad which used its own rolling stock, and traveled on rails leased from major railroads along the route of its trains, serving central Florida from points in the Mid-Atlantic region near Washington, DC, and the Mid-West near Louisville, Kentucky,...

 offered an alternative to motorists who would otherwise drive their automobiles the 855 miles (1,376 km) distance along the east coast of the U.S. For vacationers with destinations at one or more of the many popular tourist attractions of Florida, the Auto Train
Auto-Train Corporation
Auto-Train Corporation was a privately owned railroad which used its own rolling stock, and traveled on rails leased from major railroads along the route of its trains, serving central Florida from points in the Mid-Atlantic region near Washington, DC, and the Mid-West near Louisville, Kentucky,...

 service offered dual features:
  1. avoid the long automobile ride on busy Interstate 95
    Interstate 95
    Interstate 95 is the main highway on the East Coast of the United States, running parallel to the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to Florida and serving some of the most populated urban areas in the country, including Boston, Providence, New Haven, New York City, Newark, Philadelphia, Baltimore,...

     in Virginia
    Virginia
    The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

    , North Carolina
    North Carolina
    North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

    , South Carolina
    South Carolina
    South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

    , Georgia
    Georgia (U.S. state)
    Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

    , and Florida
    Florida
    Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

  2. have the convenience of use of their own automobile upon arrival.


From the beginning in 1971 (the same year Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

 began service on purely passenger routes in the US), a key feature of Auto-Train
Auto-Train Corporation
Auto-Train Corporation was a privately owned railroad which used its own rolling stock, and traveled on rails leased from major railroads along the route of its trains, serving central Florida from points in the Mid-Atlantic region near Washington, DC, and the Mid-West near Louisville, Kentucky,...

's new service was the use of autoracks, which were former Canadian National
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....

 transcontinental bi-level, enclosed autorack boxcars. These were augmented by new tri-level auto-racks in 1976.

The privately owned service became very popular, but after 10 years of operation, and some costly attempts to expand the service elsewhere (such as a schedule between Florida and Chicago, Illinois), Auto-Train Corporation entered bankruptcy, and service ended in April 1981.

Amtrak's Auto Train

Auto Train service between Virginia and Florida was resumed by Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

 in 1983. Amtrak, a federally-chartered corporation which operates most intercity passenger trains in the United States, continued to use Auto-Train's autoracks as an important portion of its service.

In current operation of Amtrak's Auto Train, there are two trains in operation simultaneously. The autoracks normally run on the rear of Auto Train consist
Consist
A consist , in North American railway terminology, is used as a noun to describe the group of rail vehicles that make up a train. A near-equivalent UK term is rake but this excludes the locomotive....

s, which stretch over a quarter-mile, and are a familiar sight on CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation
CSX Transportation operates a Class I railroad in the United States known as the CSX Railroad. It is the main subsidiary of the CSX Corporation. The company is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, and owns approximately 21,000 route miles...

 tracks on the east coast.

Today, Amtrak's Auto Train carries about 200,000 passengers and generates around $50 million in revenue annually. It is considered Amtrak's best-paying train in terms of income in comparison with operating expenses.

Whittier Shuttle

In the mid-1960s, the Alaska Railroad
Alaska Railroad
The Alaska Railroad is a Class II railroad which extends from Seward and Whittier, in the south of the state of Alaska, in the United States, to Fairbanks , and beyond to Eielson Air Force Base and Fort Wainwright in the interior of that state...

 began offering a vehicle shuttle service utilizing standard flat cars and passenger cars. Dubbed the "Whittier Shuttle," it operated in Alaska through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel
Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel
The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel is a tunnel through Maynard Mountain in the U.S. state of Alaska. It links the Seward Highway south of Anchorage at the former town of Portage with the relatively isolated community of Whittier, a port for the Alaska Marine Highway...

 under Maynard Mountain between a stop just off the Seward Highway
Seward Highway
The Seward Highway is a highway in the U.S. state of Alaska that extends 127 miles from Seward to Anchorage. It was completed in 1951 and runs through the scenic Kenai Peninsula and Turnagain Arm, for which it was designated an All-American Road by the U.S...

 near the old town of Portage, Alaska
Portage, Alaska
Portage is a former settlement on Turnagain Arm in Alaska, about south of Anchorage. The town was destroyed almost entirely in the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake when the ground in the area sank about six feet, putting most of it below sea level. All that remains today are the ruins of a few...

 and the small port town of Whittier, Alaska
Whittier, Alaska
Whittier is a city in the Valdez-Cordova Census Area, in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of 2006, the population was 177. The city is also a port for the Alaska Marine Highway.-Geography:...

, which was also a port-of-call for the Alaska Marine Highway ferry system.

As traffic to Whittier increased, the shuttle became insufficient, leading to a project to convert the existing railroad tunnel into a single-lane combination highway and railway tunnel which was opened to traffic on June 7, 2000. At 13300 feet (4,053.84 m), it is the second-longest highway
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...

 tunnel
Tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...

 and longest combined rail and highway tunnel in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

.

See also

  • Freight cars
  • Rail terminology
    Rail terminology
    Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term railroad and the international term railway is the most obvious difference in rail terminology...

  • Chevrolet Vega, which was shipped in a very different kind of railcar

External links


Auto-Max links

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