Trailer Train Flatcar #470534 and Sea-Land Containers
Manufacturer: Bethlehem Steel Corporation, 1955
Length: 75 feet
Load limit: 121,000 pounds
This flatcar is the forerunner of today's piggyback and container cars. The trailer/container flatcar was developed to help roads regain business lost to highway transportation. A train can haul trailers for long distances at a much lower cost than can a tractor-trailer.
Two hundred of these flatcars were produced by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation for the Trailer Train Company, now known as TTX Company.
This flatcar was designed to carry two intermodal containers. Intermodal cargo is shipped to its destination by a combination of more than one mode of transportation, such as trucks and trains.
These two Sea-Land containers are mounted on 35 foot trailers. They are held in place with a "fifth wheel" assembly harness.
The "container" concept was invented by Sea-Land founder Malcolm McLean of Winston Salem, North Carolina. Sea-Land is a global container transportation company. This container concept is now used worldwide to efficiently move freight. These containers have holes on the corners that receive locking pins to hold them together when they are stacked on top of one another and also allow cranes to pick up the containers and place them on ships, rail cars, trucks, or into an airplane.
Erected by Virginia
this page online
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Railroads & Streetcars. A significant historical year for this entry is 1955.
Location. 37° 16.402′ N, 79° 56.799′ W. Marker is in Roanoke, Virginia. It is in Downtown. It can be reached from the intersection of Norfolk Avenue Southwest and 3rd Street Southwest, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 303 Norfolk Ave SW, Roanoke VA 24016, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in the Mountain Region and in Southwest Virginia. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Norfolk Southern Research Car #31 (here,
Credits. This page was last revised on February 1, 2023. It was originally submitted on April 30, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 469 times since then and 29 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on April 30, 2021, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
