Today I saw a UP unit train of covered hoppers that I had never seen before. Train was north bound in eastern OK just north of McAlester OK. Composed of about 60-80 gray covered hoppers and every car had white streaks down the sides from most filler opening. Cars had mixed reporting marks but I was not able to get a picture and I was not close enough to catch the reporting marks but one looked like it may have been FMLX or something close. No names on cars. I see trains on this set of tracks all the time to/from Texas but have never seen one like this. Any idea what they were hauling?
Paul D
N scale Washita and Santa Fe RailroadSouthern Oklahoma circa late 70's
FMLX was a reporting mark for FMC Chemicals. It was probably transferred to Tronox when FMC sold the alkalis business. The cars were probably carrying sodium carbonate or sodium bicarbonate.
http://www.tronox.com/
"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)
FMLX reporting mark is FMC Corporation Inorganic Cnemicals Division
An FMLX hopper http://www.rrmods.us/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/FMLX_Ph6.3.jpg
I found a Facebook page for the FMC Inorganic Chemicals Division, but there is nothing on it except the name.
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.
Potash or soda ash. Potash comes from Canada, Soda ash from Wyoming.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
At one time, the local road in this area had a fleet of covered hoppers in dedicated phosphate service, and the cars' black paint didn't remain black for very long:
They also had more modern cylindrical hoppers in the same state.
Wayne
Thanks all. The cylindricall hopper pic posted by DSchmitt matches the ones I saw. If I had seen one or two in a consist it would not have grabbed my attention but to see that many in a single train got my attention. I don't know if unit trains of this single commodity is common but I have never seen one before. Would make a good unit train to model.
I had to take a second look at his link, as it looked "computeruzed", and it's from a simulator thing called Trainz. I've seen that menthod in here before.
Mike.
My You Tube
mbinsewi I had to take a second look at his link, as it looked "computeruzed", and it's from a simulator thing called Trainz. I've seen that menthod in here before. Mike.
I agree but that matched the style of the cars I saw.
A gallery of FMLX cars
https://hiveminer.com/Tags/fmlx/Timeline