Hauling a trailer by rail or car-carrier truck

[GM]

Hi all in US-glider land,

has anyone ever had a glider hauled in its trailer by rail or by truck
using one of these car hauling companies from coast to coast (or close
to it)? If so, I would like to learn about it.

Thanks,

Uli Neumann

[Adam]

On Apr 15, 8:20 pm, GM > wrote:
> Hi all in US-glider land,
>
> has anyone ever had a glider hauled in its trailer by rail or by truck
> using one of these car hauling companies from coast to coast (or close
> to it)? If so, I would like to learn about it.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Uli Neumann

No, but I did take bids from this web page below. I simply posted a
picture with some basic information (contents, weight, addresses, etc)
and the quotes rolled in. My dad used the service to move a large
motor with good results. There is an entire cottage industry here
built around moving items that are too large to ship thanks to ebay.
Hope this helps.

http://www.uship.com/

/Adam

[Brian[_1_]]

I used to work at a glider repair station that repaired a glider that
was shipped by rail. The Glider had vibrated out of its cradle and
then wore a hole completely through the belly of the glider as it
vibrated against the floor of the trailer. After that incident I have
never recommended shipping gliders by rail.

Brian

[Barny]

Uli, I concur with avoiding rail. Here in Detroit our most severe auto
test used to be the rail simulator. Rail has a constant shake from the
track's joints that used to wear a car's suspension out before it
reached the dealership.
I second the advice on using U-Ship.com, I used it twice to move a
glider with good results. Just be patient, the first bids will be
outrageous. Set a target price that's fair, and set flexible pick up
and delivery dates. This group is also a good place to find a "tow
ball", which I did as well (Thanks Frank).
~Barny

[[email protected]]

On Apr 16, 6:31�pm, Barny > wrote:
> Uli, I concur with avoiding rail. Here in Detroit our most severe auto
> test used to be the rail simulator. Rail has a constant shake from the
> track's joints that used to wear a car's suspension out before it
> reached the dealership.
> �I second the advice on using U-Ship.com, I used it twice to move a
> glider with good results. �Just be patient, the first bids will be
> outrageous. Set a target price that's fair, and set flexible pick up
> and delivery dates. This group is also a good place to find a "tow
> ball", which I did as well (Thanks Frank).
> ~Barny

I have a friend who was a hobo and rode the rails 30-40 years ago and
he told me that the closest he ever came to death was when he hopped a
freight car with a bad wheel. Almost shook him to death....

[Frank Whiteley]

On Apr 16, 7:36 pm, wrote:
> On Apr 16, 6:31�pm, Barny > wrote:
>
> > Uli, I concur with avoiding rail. Here in Detroit our most severe auto
> > test used to be the rail simulator. Rail has a constant shake from the
> > track's joints that used to wear a car's suspension out before it
> > reached the dealership.
> > �I second the advice on using U-Ship.com, I used it twice to move a
> > glider with good results. �Just be patient, the first bids will be
> > outrageous. Set a target price that's fair, and set flexible pick up
> > and delivery dates. This group is also a good place to find a "tow
> > ball", which I did as well (Thanks Frank).
> > ~Barny
>
> I have a friend who was a hobo and rode the rails 30-40 years ago and
> he told me that the closest he ever came to death was when he hopped a
> freight car with a bad wheel. Almost shook him to death....

I shipped by container, rail then boat, once. Somewhere, the
container was dropped some distance as the fuselage dolly was found
crushed when the container was opened. Thankfully, that dolly was
homebuilt and the crushing didn't damage the fuselage. FWIW, one of
the anchorsw inside the container had also come adrift. The stout
trailer was still attached to the strap band. Since then, I've
preferred ro-ro.

Frank Whiteley

[JJ Sinclair]

And one more rail story...........They just rolled the trailer into a
boxcar and didn't set the hand brake. Yep, everytime it stopped, or
started, the trailer slammed into one end or the other of the boxcar.
Insurance company declared it a total loss when it arrived at
Calistoga, CA. Actually wasn't all that bad and an enterprising young
glider fixer bought the salvage and had himself a new bird at half
price!
JJ

Frank Whiteley wrote:
> On Apr 16, 7:36 pm, wrote:
> > On Apr 16, 6:31�pm, Barny > wrote:
> >
> > > Uli, I concur with avoiding rail. Here in Detroit our most severe auto
> > > test used to be the rail simulator. Rail has a constant shake from the
> > > track's joints that used to wear a car's suspension out before it
> > > reached the dealership.
> > > �I second the advice on using U-Ship.com, I used it twice to move a
> > > glider with good results. �Just be patient, the first bids will be
> > > outrageous. Set a target price that's fair, and set flexible pick up
> > > and delivery dates. This group is also a good place to find a "tow
> > > ball", which I did as well (Thanks Frank).
> > > ~Barny
> >
> > I have a friend who was a hobo and rode the rails 30-40 years ago and
> > he told me that the closest he ever came to death was when he hopped a
> > freight car with a bad wheel. Almost shook him to death....
>
> I shipped by container, rail then boat, once. Somewhere, the
> container was dropped some distance as the fuselage dolly was found
> crushed when the container was opened. Thankfully, that dolly was
> homebuilt and the crushing didn't damage the fuselage. FWIW, one of
> the anchorsw inside the container had also come adrift. The stout
> trailer was still attached to the strap band. Since then, I've
> preferred ro-ro.
>
> Frank Whiteley

[Ralph Jones[_2_]]

On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:31:20 -0700 (PDT), Barny
> wrote:

>Uli, I concur with avoiding rail. Here in Detroit our most severe auto
>test used to be the rail simulator. Rail has a constant shake from the
>track's joints that used to wear a car's suspension out before it
>reached the dealership.

That's not the half of it. Just stand a few feet away from a freight
train starting up and your ears will tell you all you want to know on
that subject...;-)

rj

[GM]

On Apr 17, 12:24*pm, Ralph Jones > wrote:
> On Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:31:20 -0700 (PDT), Barny
>
> > wrote:
> >Uli, I concur with avoiding rail. Here in Detroit our most severe auto
> >test used to be the rail simulator. Rail has a constant shake from the
> >track's joints that used to wear a car's suspension out before it
> >reached the dealership.
>
> That's not the half of it. Just stand a few feet away from a freight
> train starting up and your ears will tell you all you want to know on
> that subject...;-)
>
> rj


Thanks for all the responses, guys.
I guess that settles it: Rail transport is out - road transport is in.
I am contemplating to attend the Libelle meet at Air-Sailing next
year, but hauling the trailer 80% of the east-west width of the US of
A is not very appealing plus it takes too many of the precious
vacation days. Fuel cost is a different story - who knows how much a
gallon will cost in a year.

Uli Neumann

[Alistair Wright]

Thanks for all the responses, guys.
I guess that settles it: Rail transport is out - road transport is in.
I am contemplating to attend the Libelle meet at Air-Sailing next
year, but hauling the trailer 80% of the east-west width of the US of
A is not very appealing plus it takes too many of the precious
vacation days. Fuel cost is a different story - who knows how much a
gallon will cost in a year.

Uli Neumann

Just be glad you are not doing it in the UK. Gas just reached $2.50 a liter
here this week, that's about $8 a US gallon.

Alistair Wright
Scotland

[rlovinggood]

Hello Uli,

I asked a cousin of mine, who is an independent trucker, how much he
would charge to haul my ship across the U.S. Now, this was a couple
of years ago, before diesel fuel cost about US$4.00/gallon and more.
Seems like his price was $2.00 per mile. I have no idea what it would
be now. I think that would be for a one-way trip and he would find a
load to bring back.

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA

[Ian[_2_]]

On Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:20:58 -0700, GM wrote:

> has anyone ever had a glider hauled in its trailer by rail or by truck
> using one of these car hauling companies from coast to coast (or close
> to it)? If so, I would like to learn about it.

One of our club gliders got damaged. Insurance paid for the repair but
the shop that got the contract to fix it was 1500km away. Insurance also
covered the transport cost. But none of the members volunteered to tow it
that far.

We ended up getting a haulage company to tow the glider, in its trailer,
behind a heavy road truck - fitted with a standard tow ball. The insurers
insured the transport too, but the glider, and trailer was delivered
without a scratch.

The truck was big and stable and I doubt that it drove very fast. The
haulage company is owned by a glider pilot, so I think the driver may
have been well briefed.

Maybe another option to consider - if you are brave.

Ian