The RACE (an acronym for Railways of Australia Container Express) was an intermodal container that was a slightly wider version of the standard ISO shipping container able to take two Australia Standard Pallets side by side.
History The RACE containers were developed in 1974 by the Public Transport Commission, and built by Freighter Industries. The RACE general container was designed to accommodate 20 standard pallets stacked on two levels. Carrying capacity was and it had rear and side doors for ease of loading and unloading.RACE equipment gears up ROA container expansion Railway Transportation August 1974 page 5
They were used on trains operated by members of the Railways of Australia; the Public Transport Commission, Victorian Railways, Queensland Rail, Commonwealth Railways and Western Australian Government Railways connecting Cairns, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Geraldton and Meekatharra.PTC Starts New Race Service Transport News September 1974 page 1Railways well in the freight Race Freight & Container Transportation May 1974 pages 54/55
There were also ISO RACE containers for non-palletised freight, as well as ventilated, refrigerated and side-loading containers.Ford Rush Spares by Rail Network April 1978 page 27
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