Mook's latest.......

[Mookie]

Only had a short time - but got to watch some trains. Picked up the following:

I know they run some strange stuff over the railroads, but one I didn't need my book to figure out was a tanker marked Molten Sulpher. That sounds horrible. What do they do with it?

SHPX had suction tubes on a bottom dump. Why? (Driver said they were suction tubes - I just thought they were pipes....)

SD39 and B23-7 brought a short freight into yards. Uncoupled and backed up into throat of yard. Then looked like a Chinese Fired Drill. Both men got off head engine and walked back to 2nd engine and got on. (The SD39 was the rear one and the B23-7 was the head-end at that point - just the opposite of how they came into the yard) Couldn't they just "back up"? It was only two engines. I am sure I am missing something here, but then, that's why I come here for answers.

Miss A Lot Mookie

[rrnut282]

Sulpher, like most elements comes in 3 forms, vapor, solid, or liquid, depending upon the temperature and pressure. Molten is one of the liquid forms (or it wouldn't be in a tank car). I see unit trains of the stuff coming out of Chicago and heading south and east, so I don't know what industry receives it. Sulpher is an additive to steel to make it easier to machine, and I believe it is also added to rubber for tires, yet I see loads going away from those industries[%-)]

[rrnut282]

The tank car could just be a general purpose car, so it has the capability to (un)load from either the top or bottom, depending upon what equipment the customer has and the liquid being transported.

The fire drill you witnessed was probably due to the fact that the crew was going to go the other way for a while. For safety's sake (and I believe, by law) the crew wants to be in the lead unit to get an unobstructed view of the line (crossings, signals, traspassers, etc.) ahead.

By the way, I was playing around with Train Dispatcher the other day and stumbled upon a Lincoln to Ravenna simulation. How many trains a day do they run on that line? The only way I could keep things moving was to run everything into sidings and then run fleets of 6 or more at a time.

[eolafan]

Mook, I too see molten sulphur cars once in a while here on the BNSF main and lots of other types of hazerdous cargo that really makes me kind of nervous being relatively close to the tracks while railfanning....one wrong move and those of us watching couldn't get out of the way fast enough....bet that made all of you feel just a little bit safer, no joke intended, just be sure you are within a safe distance of the tracks while railfanning and that you can "get out" when you need to in a hurry.

[edblysard]

Hi Mookie,
rrnut had it right, the crew most likely were going to take a train back the way they just came from, or run the motors "light" back home, they would want to be on the lead unit if it was more than a mile or two.

Sulpher, yeck, those cars stink, smells like rotten eggs.
Steel, some fuel, medicines, explosives, gunpowder and rubber are just a few uses for the stuff.
It is loaded hot, in a liquid or "molten" state, when it cools, it hardens, just like the stuff on a match head.
The pipes under the car were most likely steam inlet and outlet pipes, they connect to steam lines that run around the inside of the tank, to let the guys who unload this stuff heat it back up so it melts(becomes molten) and will flow more easily out of the discharge valve.
The tanks are insulated, so this stuff will stay molten for a long time, but if it does cool down, there is no way to get it out of the tank till you reheat it.
And you cant ship it in anything but a tankcar, or it will become contaminated.
If you ground it up into a powder, and shipped it that way, it would absorb moisture from the air.
These cars are used only for sulpher loading, and are marked or labled such.

Cant remember who, but one tankcar lessor painted their fleet of sulpher cars the same shade of gross yellow the sulpher is, I guess to hide the slop over on the sides..
I dont know the exact temp, but the stuff becomes molten at a fairly low temp, under 200f degrees, you could melt it in a pan on your stove, if you could stand the smell and the fumes.

Ed[:D]

[mudchicken]

Some of the sulphur winds up as the smell you get in your gas service. (it doesn't come out of the ground smelling that way)....SD-39? (Santa Fe had 20, BN had zilch....my buddies from Raton Pass are still around withthe SD-26's already long gone??? a slug mother got loose?)

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rrnut282

The tank car could just be a general purpose car, so it has the capability to (un)load from either the top or bottom, depending upon what equipment the customer has and the liquid being transported.

The fire drill you witnessed was probably due to the fact that the crew was going to go the other way for a while. For safety's sake (and I believe, by law) the crew wants to be in the lead unit to get an unobstructed view of the line (crossings, signals, traspassers, etc.) ahead.

By the way, I was playing around with Train Dispatcher the other day and stumbled upon a Lincoln to Ravenna simulation. How many trains a day do they run on that line? The only way I could keep things moving was to run everything into sidings and then run fleets of 6 or more at a time.

I sit at the east end of the yard and they run those Lincoln to Ravenna/Hastings trains out the west end. But they do run a lot. Don't quote me, but I think they run all the coal trains through that line. It is definitely a main line. Saturday they ran about 8 trains out the east side in less than an hour. Only reason I sit on east end is because there is not much place to park on the west end. Maybe someone can help us out with approximate #'s on this.

Mook

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mudchicken

Some of the sulphur winds up as the smell you get in your gas service. (it doesn't come out of the ground smelling that way)....SD-39? (Santa Fe had 20, BN had zilch....my buddies from Raton Pass are still around withthe SD-26's already long gone??? a slug mother got loose?)

Maybe a re-painted Santa Fe? I have a list that I printed off that tells me what the engine is by the number. Maybe my list is incorrect? I wrote it down very carefully, but didn't write down the engine #. Will watch for it, since we see that B23-7 or one like it frequently. Will start taking better notes. And if someone has a good website for engine #'s and types with it, let me know.

Moo

[rrnut282]

Miss Mook

8 in an hour sounds about right for the simulation , too. Cool. Somebody was actually familiar with the territory.

[CShaveRR]

Those SHPX tank cars for sulfur are pretty new.

I'm pretty sure that some agricultural use accounts for the larger volumes that we see here (I've seen a few unit trains on UP, but I suspect that other railroads haul more of those than we do, at least through Chicago). One destination I've seen very often is Hopewell, Virginia, which can apparently be reached via both NS and CSX.

Ed's got the correct answers about the cars theselves, though I should point out that I have seen sulfur transported in open-top cars before. I'm sure that tank cars are the preferred method, though (and it's been a long time since I've seen it in hoppers!).

Carl

[corwinda]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

SHPX had suction tubes on a bottom dump. Why? (Driver said they were suction tubes - I just thought they were pipes....)

That's a covered hopper; right? Somewhat longer than a normal grain hopper?

If so; I've seen the same kind in Springfield OR. I believe they are a modern version of an airslide hopper. (One of the experts can give both of us a better explanation of what they are used for/how they work.)

[Mikeygaw]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

Originally posted by mudchicken

And if someone has a good website for engine #'s and types with it, let me know.
Moo

ok,
http://www.online-isp.com/~rcraig/NS.HTML for NS
http://www.online-isp.com/~rcraig/CSX.HTML for CSX
http://www.online-isp.com/~rcraig/BNSF.HTML BNSF
http://www.online-isp.com/~rcraig/UP.HTML for the Borg

those are the sites i use

yes, i know they're in red, i didn't make em, so cant help it
i had another site that was better, but dont know where i shoved the link to

Conrail Forever!

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