Containers did not begin their success story until the recent past: In 1966, the first container load in Europe was unloaded in Bremerhaven. Since then, this transport platform has recorded constant growth. While container handling worldwide in 1969 was 700,000 TEU (TEU = Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit = a load unit 20 feet long and 8 feet wide, defining the number of standard containers that can be loaded), in 1982 it was already 17 million TEU, at the turn of the millennium it was already 236 million TEU and in 2017 about 720 million TEU. Worldwide container service had reached in the area of sea freight a share of around 75 percent - and the trend was for further growth. A standard dimension had to be found however for the most general utilization in all forms of transport - marine and domestic shipping, rail, and trucking - in the largest number of countries possible. The result after protracted negotiations in 1968 was the first ISO container as a 20-foot standard container with a length of 20 feet (6.1 meters). Other standard sized containers with standard lengths of 40 feet (12.2 meters), 45 feet (13.7 meters), 48 feet (14.6 meters), and 53 feet (16.2 meters) followed.
Prototype: German Federal Railroad (DB) type Sgjs 716 as it looked in Era IV loaded with three 20-foot containers, 2 for Hapag Lloyd and 1 for Freightliner. Car number 31 80 443 7 572-9. The car looks as it did in Era IV.
Highlights
Model: This is a four-axle flat car with rotating stakes on the sides. It is loaded with three 20-foot containers. All the containers can be removed. The doors on one end of the containers can be opened as in the prototype. The car frame is constructed mostly of metal. There are crossover ramps that can be moved. The car's wheels are solid. The minimum radius for operation is 1,020 mm / 40-3/16". Length over the buffers 65.5 cm / 25-3/4".
