Do the railroads usually design, install and maintain the sand towers present in their yard facilities? I realize there's probably hundreds and hundreds of individual variations on the same basic design. I'm wondering if the engineering departments are the people who design and install them, or are they typically purchased from some outside vendor and the railroads then maintain them?
The reason I ask is I've seen dozens of different tower designs in the yards I've seen, and there certainly does seem to be a lot of variety. The DME in Huron actually has what looks to be a 2-bay hopper car supported in heavy beams as the reservoir.
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