A short time ago I had the opportunity to visit CN's major yard in north Edmonton. While there I noticed that a few road engines were being refuelled trackside by tanker trucks as opposed to using fixed trackside facilities. Is this the norm in large yards. If so, it gives me another idea for my layout ?
I believe that is the norm these days as building a trackside fuel facility is costly and these days would involve a lit of red tape EPA regs and so on. What I did was build a Hess Oil transfer facility that while not prototypical at all gives me a chance to display a collection of Hess mini tankers I have collected over the years.
Tank cars are unloaded and the trucks filled with diesel or gasoline (for the stations or commercial clients) and sent all over the lsyout.
Joe Staten Island West
At certain enroute refueling stops, Amtrak uses contracted fuel suppliers who bring the fuel in trucks. Consider a typical railroad station. If two trains per day, one train traveling in each direction, are to be refueled at a particular location during a scheduled passenger stop, then permanent refueling stations would have to be built at both ends of the station platform, or the locomotives would have to be removed from one or both trains in order to be refueled. That would involve considerable cost in money for infrastructure, as well as time. For freight operations, the train can be stopped at any location in the yard, and the trucks can get to them anywhere that a nearby road exists. Environmental issues regarding fuel storage are probably another important factor, as has been mentioned.
I've seen it done at CSX's yard in Spartanburg. But, it is not a big yard.
Richard
Railroads use a mix of fixed fueling facilities, main line fueling stations and direct to locomotive (DTL) truck refueling. At N Platte, NE, the UP uses all three.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
A few trips back, our second engine ran out of fuel. (The sight glass on the tank was so corroded that it looked like there was fuel in it.) They sent out the tank truck to a gravel road crossing, where they fueled it.
Jeff
how many tank trucks does take to fill a empty locomotive?
denveroutlaws06 how many tank trucks does take to fill a empty locomotive?
Depends on the size of the locomotive fuel tank and the size of the tanker.
Tanker trailers and semi-trailers with capacities over 5,000 gal are considered large. Capacities could be double that.
Tanker trucks less than 3,500 gal are small.
The fuel capacitiy of a 1950's switcher around 600 gal, a modern mainline locomotive 4000-5000 gal.
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One large tanker could fill up a modern main line locomotive, but it could take 1-1/2 to 2 small tankers. which is the size I've most often seen used..
I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.
I don't have a leg to stand on.
i have seen tank trucks used to refuel engines even at a large yard (Galesburg) that has a complete diesel service and fuel facility. I assume it saved a great deal of time on a through train that otherwise had no reason to stop for very long at the yard, since it takes a while to get the power off the main (the Quincy Main, for those that know the yard in Galesburg IL) over to the facility and wait your turn at the lineup.
I have also seen Amtrak (the Empire Builder) get refueled by a tank truck at Wisconsin's La Crosse Depot. Due to some error or mechanical malfunction, quite a bit of fuel spilled on the platform after the engine's fuel tank was full - evidently the automatic shutoff malfunctioned. A smelly mess.
Back when Amtrak was running the Turbo Trains between Milwaukee and Chicago, they'd sometimes get refueled at the Milwaukee Depot by a tank truck from the airport - with jet fuel!
Dave Nelson
When I was in Hawaii a few months ago on a cruise ship, on disembarkation day I kept hearing annoucments to the effect that no one one was to go out on deck while they were refueling. Wonder why? Do ships use diesel fuel thats somehow more dangerous than trains?
joe323 When I was in Hawaii a few months ago on a cruise ship, on disembarkation day I kept hearing annoucments to the effect that no one one was to go out on deck while they were refueling. Wonder why? Do ships use diesel fuel thats somehow more dangerous than trains?
Two possible reasons -- 1) Fumes might be strong enough to cause breathing problems, and 2) so no moron would throw a lit cigarette overboard right where the refueling hose was connected.