PC-90 Piggy-Packer, A Brief History

Wheels of Time is looking forward to the Fall, 2011 release of its brand new PC-90 Piggy-Packer, a large, purpose-built tractor that has served the railroads' intermodal scene for almost 45 years. Read our short history of this interesting machine below, and learn more about the Wheels of Time PC-90 Piggy-Packer on our product pages. Enjoy!

Burlington Northern PC-90 Piggy-Packer at Portland (Paul Brezicki photo collection)

A brief History of the PC-90 Piggy-Packer

Early Years

By the early 1960s, railroads in North America were routinely transporting truck trailers on specialized railroad cars called “piggyback” flat cars (known as Trailer On Flat Car, or TOFC). The loading and unloading of truck trailers from these flat cars was accomplished by way of a ramp at one end of the train, with a truck-tractor used to pull the trailer on and off the train. This was commonly referred to as “circus loading”, and was a time consuming process: by this method, trailers on piggyback flat cars could only be loaded or unloaded sequentially. Furthermore circus loading required a very skilled driver, one able to navigate the narrow confines of a flatcar, especially when backing up to pick up a trailer.

In 1964, the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) began searching for ways to speed up operations at its LA piggyback facility know as LATC or “Shops”. Inspiration came in the form of a log-loading machine in Oregon called the “Lumberjack”, a large tractor with oversize tires built by FWD Wagner Corp., and modified by Nelson Equipment Co., the sales agent for Wagner in Portland, OR. SP worked with Nelson to further modify the loader to handle trailers. After testing various configurations at LATC and Brooklyn Yard in Portland, the prototype machine, called the “Model 60”, entered service at LATC. The lifting device had a pair of short forks and a pivoting arm that engaged the trailer floor from the opposite side.

The production model was called the P-70, came with a 70,000 lb lift capacity, and featured an extended-width grapple frame. The first P-70 was sold to Milwaukee Road for its Bensenville, IL (Franklin Park) facility in October, 1966. Shortly after came the largest-ever single order for the Piggy-Packer: 14 P-70’s for the NYC. The Central had realized that the Flexivan was a dead-end technology, and that improved clearances east of Albany were facilitating the conversion to TOFC. The Central decided that the Piggy-Packer was superior to the crane lift because the terminals required little or no modifications. However, the P-70 had it’s drawbacks. It tended to tilt the trailer as it was being lifted causing loads to shift on the inside. Further, it required a 10-ft clearance on the far side of the trailer due to the pivoting grapple frame.

Southern Pacific PC-90 loading a Seatrain container. (Matthew Young photo collection)

Refinement of the Piggy-Packer

Erie Lackawanna PC-90 Piggy-Packer loading trailers in Chicago. (Paul Brezicki photo collection)In 1968, the FWD Wagner Corp. developed the P-80 and the PC-90. The boom on the PC-90 (and P-80) was redesigned to eliminate the tilting of the trailers during lifting by including a pair of horizontal stabilizing bars that served as a parallelogram.  Folding grapple arms replaced the clamshell lift mechanism, eliminating the 10-feet clearance required with the '70. Further, by 1968, ISO standards had been established for the emerging maritime container business, replacing the proprietary lift mechanisms for SeaLand, Matson and others. Nelson saw the growth potential in adapting the Piggy-Packer for container handling, and chose the lift mechanism that had been developed by Ropco Corp. The first dual-purpose machine equipped with a container spreader entered service in UP’s Seattle facility in 1968.  Furthermore, lift capacity was beefed up to 90,000 lb (45 tons). The PC-90 quickly became the de facto standard for mechanization of TOFC operations.

Raygo Wagner Years

Conrail PC-90 Piggy-Packer loading a JB Hunt trailer at Harrisburg-TV yard. (Paul Brezicki photo)With the commercial success of the Piggy-Packer well-established, FWD Wagner was reluctant to assume all manufacturing and development. By the end of 1968, FWD Wagner sold all aspects of the Piggy-Packer to the Raygo Corp., a heavy equipment manufacturer. Raygo went on to develop the Piggy-Packer as a part of the Raygo Wagner intermodal product line. They were fabricated in Portland with parts made by Clark. By the late 1970’s, Piggy-Packers were being built under contract, by Portland-based Allied Systems Inc. The line eventually included the following models:

•  Piggy-Packers: PC-90 with a 90,000 lb lift capacity; PC-80 with a 80,000 lb lift capacity. The PC-80 had a shorter wheelbase than PC-90.

•  Port Packers: MH-80 with 80,000 lb lift capacity; CH(E)-70 with 70,000 lb lift capacity; CH-50 with 50,000 lb lift capacity. The Port Packers were similar to the PC-90, but had a shorter wheelbase, slightly higher operator's cab, and a detachable spreader for lifting containers.

•  Stac-Pac: Stac-Pac were developed and used by the Southern Pacific in lifting containerized automobiles on to railroad flat cars. Auto containers were open at the ends and held GM autos three high. They had a revolving mechanism that rotated horizontally to facilitate the loading of autos into the container and then rotated the container 90 degrees to be placed on a railroad flat car. It seems that the SP tried using PC-90s for lifting these short open-ended auto containers but the operation required more maneuverability than the '90 had.

The Competition

In the North American market, the PC-90 had competition in the Marathon LeTourneau "LeTro-Porters", which were powered by a diesel-electric drive system much like a locomotive, and had a winch-lift system. A number of railroads used the LeTro-Porters, including the Santa Fe Railway, to supplement their overhead-lift cranes.

The Final Years

CSX "Seaboard System" PC-90 Piggy-Packer in Charlotte, NC (Paul Brezicki photo)In 1985, the Mi-Jack Corporation, manufacturer of overhead-lift TOFC/COFC equipment (Translift  and Travelift), added sideloaders to its product line by acquiring the the Raygo-Wagner line of Piggy-Packers and Port Packers. Mi-Jack continued the arrangement with Allied (which, in 2011, still produces several versions of the machine that started it all … the Lumberjack, with various lift capacities). The PC-90 lives on as the MJ-9090, Mi-Jack’s current boom-style sideloader.

Wheels of Time's PC-90 Piggy-Packer

Read about our PC-90 on the product pages. Our Piggy-Packer is an accurate model of this great machine.

(Wheels of Time image)

Notes from the Field

An enjoyable aspect of working here at Wheels of Time is documenting the prototype accurately. I am especially aware of the little details, details you'll see reflected on your Wheels of Time products. I find it especially satisfying when I find the prototype in real life.  It certainly helps me develop accurate models!  Here are some tips that I've learned in documenting a prototype.

1)  Take good field notes, even if it looks like chicken scratch. Here are my field notes for the SP American Car & Foundry bilevel coach built in 1957. You never find this level of detail from a magazine drawing. Taking good notes, I see things that otherwise I would miss. One such detail: the 1955 Pullman-Standard cars had wide shallow skirts around the center doors and slightly angled in A/C diesel-generator cabinet, in contrast to the ACF coaches.

2)  Use a measuring stick.  It makes taking general dimensions easier since it will not flex or roll up like a measuring tape.  It can give the relative scale of complex parts.  My stick is a 3-ft PVC pipe with electrical tape, marked off at 3" and 1' increments.

3)  A measuring tape is also a must for accurate dimensioning. Here is a measuring tape in relation to a PCC truck. I'm careful to measure how far things stick out.

4)   Documenting the style, color, dimensions of the actual lettering is important. This one is from a B & O car.

5)  Paint color can vary under different lighting conditions. Here is a VRE bilevel coach in the railroad shop. Having photos of the paint scheme in white lighting conditions can be helpful in finding the correct hue of the paint.

6)   Taking photos with shadows, i.e., side-lit. Noticed how the shadows bring forth the contours and relief on this Dodge truck that you won't necessary see if you were to take the photo of a subject lit perfectly flat from the front.

7)   Show relative dimensions. Note the relative dimensions of the belt rail to the rivets on this B & O car. This kind of photo is very helpful in model making. I'm careful to measure the diameter of the rivets and the thickness and width of the belt rails.

8)  Don't forget to take photos of the ends of the car. Noticed the rain gutters and the "B" marks. Be sure to measure the dimensions of the "B" mark, using your measuring stick . . . unless you are extremely tall. Little details like this go a long way in making your model look like the real thing. Our new Wheels of Time bilevel coaches will feature these rain gutters, and our SP model will have the little "B" letterings too.

By the way, don't forget to reserve your bilevel coaches today* from your favorite dealer or directly on our site ... and go out and document your own favorite piece of rolling stock or vehicle!   

*Deadline extended until the end of this month since most people are on holidays.

I hope you will have Happy New Year. May you find much health, meaning and joy to celebrate in 2011.  

5:15 PM Train Time (A Photo Essay)

Etched into memory forever is the oscillating flash of the locomotive’s light, the hiss of air, the sound of tickets being punched, the clickety-clack of the rails, the sing-song call of the next stop, the squeal of brakes, a sea of humanity carried through the peak hours by a parade of 7- to 10-car trains. The commuter remembers the distinctive throb of the Fairbanks-Morse OP engine bringing us up to speed, the chant of the EMD 16-cylinder 567 prime mover ... even the sterile turbocharged whine of the EMD 20-cylinder 645. Watch your step! All aboard! Enjoy your ride into history.  (And remember to reserve your set of bilevel commute coaches by 12/28/10.)

GP-9 accelerating out of Burlingame during the morning rush hourMorning, June 1981, Train No. 129 enters 4th & Townsend with EMD GP40P-2 leading a train of 72-ft Suburban CoachesMorning train No. 43 rounding the curve for the last lap into the City ... bilevel coach shown is a 1968 Pullman-Standard built carThis was taken when I was a little with my 110 Kodak Instamatic Camera: Car No. 3723 is an ACF built 1957 bilevel coach that Wheels of Time is currently recreating (see http://wheelsotime.com/bilevel-commute-coach)One of a kind Caltrain-painted-&-leased SP locomotive 3187 with bilevel coaches leaving in the afternoonEvening rush hour with SDP45 in commandSP Train No. 42 rounding 7th Street with EMD SW1500 switching a set of bilevel coachesTrain No. 151 at San Jose waiting to leave for a night run up the Peninsula ... notice the portable red light that hangs on the metal gate

The Daily Commuter

Ever been a train commuter? Can you remember what was it like before automatic sliding doors, air conditioning, PA announcements, and passengers tuned to their  electronic gizmos?

I experienced the life of a daily commuter during the summers of my youth, and later, when trains took me to my local JC. My memory is full of small moments that made lasting impressions. If you're interested in commuter trains, stay tuned for a Wheels of Time announcement, coming soon.

In the meantime, to satisfy your inner old-school railroading habit, I'll share some of my memories, some of the daily rituals I had on SP's commute trains before Caltrain, before the internet, and all the gizmos we use to block out the world.

Inside SP's suburban coach. Newspaper from my collection.What was it like? ... I remember reading the Chronicle in the morning, and the Examiner in the evening; flipping the 'walkover seat' to face backwards to have a friendly chat with a fellow passenger; playing a hand of poker on the wooden board located at each end of the commute car - provided by "your friendly SP."
(Need to catch up on your sleep? No problem. The conductor would rattle your seat with his ticket puncher to wake you in time for your stop.)

Eastbound (by timetable) evening SP commute train stopping at San Bruno in March 1983. Notice the red marker light on the suburban coach ("subs" were class 72-IC-1, 2, 3)
I remember the smooth but gentle swaying of the coach with the ever-familiar click-clack on the jointed rails. It was pretty easy to guess the speed of the train by the timing of the click-clack.

I remember the conductor singing out each stop ... "BROAD-way,  broad-WAY", and hearing the release of air brakes and the slamming of the vestibule trap doors, and the scurrying of passengers with their briefcases and Chronicles.

I remember the conductor's wave of the hand to the engineer that all were onboard. Vestibule trap doors closed and trap doors on the other side (where the platforms will be located at the next station-stop) are opened.

My first Cal-Trans Southern Pacific monthly pass, pre-Caltrain era

The conductor and the brakemen collect our money, punch our tickets, and wedge a zone stub into the clip on the seat, actions repeated a thousand times a day.

As the train makes its way through the many tunnels in San Francisco, passengers instinctively close their windows. The final stop is called: Fourth and Townsend. The train eases it way through the maze of track work before you reach the depot. The brakeman opens the trap doors and vestibule doors, and gets a head start on ratcheting the car's hand brake. The train squeals to a stop and everybody rushes off. Out of the sea of humanity, a commuter waves good morning, reaches up and gives his Chronicle to the engineer. As the sun sets, the tide of humanity is reversed and the rhythm is played over again.

Train Action around Stockton

I like trains. It's my hope that this passion is reflected in the work I do at Wheels of Time, and especially in our commitment to authenticity. Authenticity in train modeling comes from a connection to the past. I've had a lot of opportunities to explore sites that are no more: It's sad to see beatiful and interesting sites disappear, but the memories serve to keep my love of trains alive. Here are photos that I took in Stockton, California on July 19, 1997 -- a fascinating site where the former Santa Fe Railway, Southern Pacific Railroad, and Western Pacific Railroad converged. The context: in July, 1997, the Santa Fe Railway had merged with Burlington Northern seven months prior; Western Pacific had already disappeared under a sea of UP yellow and Southern Pacific was headed that way too. Fast forward 13 years: warbonnet Santa Fe diesels, BN green livery, SP scarlet, red and gray are all now just snap-shots of history. Central California Traction survives, in contrast to expectations in 1997, but much has changed. The venerable interlocking tower is gone.

What period in history do you model? Return with me to the busy and varied action back in July 19, 1997. Maybe your next layout could model this interesting crossroads of history?

Surprised: Westbound BN geep running abnormally long hood-forward with a string of pigs bound for Richmond. Maybe the lead engine went dead and was set-out.Horns blowing, southbound Amtrak San Joaquin announces it’s arrival.Minutes later another westward BNSF piggy-back train lead by Santa Fe’s Warbonnet GE C40-8W heads across UP's ex-Western Pacific diamondInterlocking tower provides traffic control on BNSF’s Stockton Subdivision and UP lines; here Southern Pacific engines head up a northbound UP freightCentral California Traction, originally conceived in 1905 as a streetcar system providing the people of Stockton mobility (hence “traction” in the name). At one time, 600-volt “juice jacks” provided locomotion for it’s trainsEMD GP7 No. 60 at the CCT shops, remembering the better days as Reading Railroad No. 607CCT No. 1795, an ex-Rock Island GP18, slumbering