Railgon Company
Encyclopedia
The Railgon Company owned railroad gondola
cars available for use by multiple railroads by placing the cars in a cooperative
pool.
Due to routing arrangements and track usage agreements, gondola cars and other rolling stock are often used to transport goods on more than one railroad before reaching the end customer. Under the laws governing railway transport, individual railroads paid a fee, called demurrage
, for the excess time other railroads held these cars (whether laden or not) prior to return to their owning road. The demurrage fees were thought to promote the rapid return of rolling stock, since delays equated to extra money spent.
Because of the desire to reduce costs by minimizing demurrage, non-owning railroads may have declined the practice of allowing cars to continue on past their initial destination to points further from the car's "home". This had the effect of decreasing efficiency on these lines, and Railgon (and Railbox) used this argument to promote use of their rolling stock.
Railroad deregulation as part of the Staggers Act reduced the need for this service, and the use of this cooperative arrangement consequently declined. As a result, today the Railgon pool is significantly smaller than at its peak.
Railgon (and the similar Railbox Company) are currently subsidiaries
of TTX Company
, formerly the Trailer Train Company, which is owned by multiple railroads and leases cars to them. There are currently 1188 cars in the Railgon fleet, compared with over 13,000 boxcar
s in the Railbox fleet.
Gondola (rail)
In railroad terminology, a gondola is an open-top type of rolling stock that is used for carrying loose bulk materials. Because of its low side walls, gondolas are used to carry either very dense material, such as steel plates or coils, or bulky items such as prefabricated pieces of rail...
cars available for use by multiple railroads by placing the cars in a cooperative
Cooperative
A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...
pool.
Due to routing arrangements and track usage agreements, gondola cars and other rolling stock are often used to transport goods on more than one railroad before reaching the end customer. Under the laws governing railway transport, individual railroads paid a fee, called demurrage
Demurrage
The term demurrage originated in vessel chartering and refers to the period when the charterer remains in possession of the vessel after the period normally allowed to load and unload cargo . By extension demurrage refers to the charges that the charterer pays to the shipowner for its extra use of...
, for the excess time other railroads held these cars (whether laden or not) prior to return to their owning road. The demurrage fees were thought to promote the rapid return of rolling stock, since delays equated to extra money spent.
Because of the desire to reduce costs by minimizing demurrage, non-owning railroads may have declined the practice of allowing cars to continue on past their initial destination to points further from the car's "home". This had the effect of decreasing efficiency on these lines, and Railgon (and Railbox) used this argument to promote use of their rolling stock.
Railroad deregulation as part of the Staggers Act reduced the need for this service, and the use of this cooperative arrangement consequently declined. As a result, today the Railgon pool is significantly smaller than at its peak.
Railgon (and the similar Railbox Company) are currently subsidiaries
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
of 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...
, formerly the Trailer Train Company, which is owned by multiple railroads and leases cars to them. There are currently 1188 cars in the Railgon fleet, compared with over 13,000 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 in the Railbox fleet.