Just recently while running during cross county practice I saw an interesting tank car on BNSF's Pacific Harbor Sub. The tank car was domeless,all white, and had reporting marks that said I believe APRX. I am not 100% sure on the reporting marks though. Also it appeared to be about the same length as the GP30 that was pulling it, maybe a little longer. I have never seen a domeless tank car before. What do they haul and when did they enter service? This would be an interesting car to own as a model.
APRX is the reporting mark for Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE symbol APD,) a major supplier of industrial gases. Tanks for gaseous cargo would not usually have domes, would be designed to carry substantial internal pressure and would probably have specialized loading/unloading fittings specific to the commodity being carried. The exact nature of the cargo would probably be found in the small print on the tank and the hazard placard (if any.)
My initial thought was, "Propane, or LNG." I have seen domeless tanks carrying both in the local industrial area. The quick Google search I made didn't specify what gases would normally be carried in APRX cars - could be anything from nitrogen to flourine.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Makes sense. Thanks for the info.
Did you see "1951" in a rectangular box printed somewhere along the car?
It was most likely a liquid argon car.
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When I saw it I was about 200ft away and running so I didn't get to take a good look at it. It didn't appear to be that old. The only weathering it had on it was some rust on the top of it and thats about it. The paint wasn't too fadded either.
Air Products name is self explanitory. It makes products from air. In other words it separates the components through cryogenics and sells primarlily liquid oxygen, nitrogen, argon and helium. None of their products are flammable and oxygen is not considered a flammable product. In all probablity there is a vent on the car to maintain pressure as a small portion of the cargo becomes gas and is vented to control the pressure. You will see this on their and other air company trucks as they travel on the interstate. If it was not venting chances are it was on a return trip for refilling.
This page, http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/rsList.aspx?id=APRX&cid=12, has photographs of all of Air Products and Chemicals APRX tankcars listed in the October 2007 ORER. It appears that the car is in the APRX 6000 series and was carrying argon.
"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)
Yes, that is the tank car that I saw. Funny thing is, I have never seen that type of tank car before on this particular BNSF local. Thanks for the info everyone.
http://www.airproducts.com/ProductsMarkets/index.asp
Well, when I saw the tank car it was the first car in the train so I am assuming that it was either empty or loaded with something non hazardous. I know that there are FRA regulations that don't allow a car carrying hazardous or dangerous materials to be right behind a locomotive. The train that was carrying the train was headed toward a Mobile Refinery. Don't know too much about refinery operations other than they take crude oil and produce gasoline, diesel and I want to say tar or ashpalt. I still am clueless as to why the domeless tank car was in my neck of the woods.
kingbee33I still am clueless as to why the domeless tank car was in my neck of the woods.
I still am clueless as to why the domeless tank car was in my neck of the woods.
It was carrying argon, which is only an asphyxiation hazard. Click on the link in my last post to learn more about it.
I like the link, it is very informative. I can kind of relate to it becuause I am taking chemistry right now in school.