Crude by Rail and GATX TankTrains

[GP-9_Man11786]

With crude oil being transported be rail, could GATX TankTrain cars come into more widespread use? It seems to me the trunaround time on these cars would be faster than a standard DOT 111 tank car.

[JoeBlow]

Here in California, the Union Pacific runs a pair of tank trains from the central valley to LA. The trains are basically a shuttle service. My understanding, and it may be wrong, of the other oil trains are that they are sometimes divided up.

[ericsp]

The trains have not run out of Bakersfield since the late 1990s. The TankTrains currently running to Carson are loaded south of San Ardo (on the Coast Line).

I am not aware of any ethanol or new crude oil unit trains using the TankTrain tank cars, so I am guessing most shippers do not like them.

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

I agree with your premise, but it appears that you and I are the only ones to see it that way (at least since John Kneiling died).  I'm not aware of any having been built or put into service recently, even though GATX has a webpage for them:

http://www.gatx.com/wps/wcm/connect/GATX/GATX_SITE/Home/Rail+North+America/Products/Equipment+Types/Tank/Acid+and+Specialty/Tank+Train/  

A few years ago (2010 - 2011) several sets of older ones were commonly seen in the CP (ex-D&H) Kenwood Yard just south of Albany, NY.

Over on RailPictures.net are several really good photos of them up in Canada - see, for example:

A favorite (not my photo, though): http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=133704&nseq=16 

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=496286&nseq=5#remarks 

Search there for either "TankTrain" and/ or "Ultramar" - each one yields about 25 photos (some overlaps/ duplications, though). 

- Paul North.     

[MidlandMike]

The TankTrain saved on hook-up time, but could basically only load one car at a time in series.  I think they unloaded the same way.  Terminals for crude oil trains nowdays load many cars at once thru the top load, and drain many cars at once thru the bottom valves on the tank cars.  More hook-ups, but quicker turn around.

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

Since there are multipe pipes for the single car operations, why not multiple pipes for the TankTrain sets so that they can be all filled at once ?  That would actually be less in number - only about 1/5 of the number of connection points in each train, so less pipes and connection/ disconnection time would be needed.  To find the real best configuration, a time-and-motion study wold be needed.

At the link above, GATX says the "five-car string" can be filled at 3,000 gals. per minute ==> 90 minutes for 5 cars (30,000 gals. per car / 3,000 gals. per minute ==> 10 minutes per car x 5 = 50 minutes, so they're conservative), and a 90-car train in 5 hours.  I've seen one such terminal in action - it takes those guys almost 5 hours to connect or disconnect the entire train, and the 'dwell' time there is about 24 hours per train - way more than the unloading time.  One real advantage to the TankTrain is that it's safer for the personnel - less risk/ exposure to injuries of a person having to crawl under the low-slung belly of a tank car with a heavy hose to connect and disconnect for the unloading operation, especially in slippery snow/ ice/ rain conditions.    

- Paul North.