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40' Intermodal freight containers on Japan rail lines?


Mauka

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Thinking about expanding beyond Shinkansen models, and I was checking out freight cars and noticed the containers were not the 40 foot ones that go from ship to rail or truck n the US.

 

But I'm sure that ocean shippers all use the same size containers.  Can someone tell me what I'm missing?

 

Alan

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Nick_Burman

Thinking about expanding beyond Shinkansen models, and I was checking out freight cars and noticed the containers were not the 40 foot ones that go from ship to rail or truck n the US.

 

But I'm sure that ocean shippers all use the same size containers.  Can someone tell me what I'm missing?

 

Alan

 

Alan,

 

The Japanese (read JNR) developed their own container standards for domestic service and the resulting containers are what you mostly see roaming JP rails. Few ISO containers travel by train in Japan, mainly because the industries which require such hardware are located right next to the ports and ergo don't need rail service. So much so that some large international container terminals like Daiba at the Port of Tokyo have no rail access - if any ISO container needs to be sent elsewhere by rail, it would need to be trucked to the JRF Tokyo Freight Terminal to be transferred onto a train for further transportation. Also, until a few years ago JR Freight did not have container flats which could take ISO containers without running afoul of clearances. What ISO containers move by rail tend to go to inland manufacturing centres like Morioka in a restricted number of trains. Often a load which arrives in a port in an ISO container is transferred to a JP standard container for further delivery, if there is need for it; the same happens in the reverse direction.

 

Cheers NB

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Aloha Nick, that's for the information!  Sounds like "clearances" is a major factor.

 

I spent some time on Hobby Search and did find container flats for private lines, all sold without a container - those must be the one serving the manufacturing centers you mentioned.

 

Alan

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Nick_Burman

Aloha Nick, that's for the information!  Sounds like "clearances" is a major factor.

 

I spent some time on Hobby Search and did find container flats for private lines, all sold without a container - those must be the one serving the manufacturing centers you mentioned.

 

Alan

Alan,

 

 

It's not just clearances; as I mentioned before, industrial demographics also play a heavy influence where and when ISO containers take to the rails in Japan.

 

Cheers NB

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