Well car

A well car, also known as a double-stack car (or also intermodal car/container car), is a type of railroad car specially designed to carry intermodal containers (shipping containers) used in intermodal freight transport. The "well" is a depressed section that sits close to the rails between the wheel trucks of the car, allowing a container to be carried lower than on a traditional flatcar. This makes it possible to carry a stack of two containers per unit on railway lines (double-stack rail transport) wherever the structure gauge assures sufficient clearance.

The top container is secured to the bottom container either by a bulkhead built into the car — possible when bottom and top containers are the same dimensions, or through the use of inter-box connectors (IBC). Four IBCs are needed per well car. In the terminal there are four steps: unlock and lift off the top containers of an inbound train, remove the bottom containers, insert outbound bottom containers, lock assembly after top containers emplaced. Generally this is done car-by-car unless multiple crane apparatus are employed.

Advantages of using well cars include increased stability due to the lower center of gravity of the loads, lower tare weight, and in the case of articulated units, reduced slack action.

Well cars are most common in North America and Australia where intermodal traffic is heavy and electrification is less widespread; thus overhead clearances are typically more manageable. In India double stacking of containers is done on flatcars under 7.45 m (24 ft 5+1⁄4 in)-high catenary because the wider 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) gauge permits more height while keeping the centre of gravity still low.^[1][2]