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Non-interchange car on a foreign road?

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Posted by Overmod on Friday, January 31, 2020 8:10 AM

Deggesty
 
BaltACD
 
Deggesty
jeffhergert

Where possible to see, some other BNSF well cars have the same stencil.  One of the Trailer-Train well cars has a stencil that says "Restricted Interchange Car - See Official Guide".

Is this the Official Guide to freight railroads? 

I suspect Jeff meant 'Equipment Register'.  UMLER is the computer accessable Equipment Register. 

I agree.

Or it could have meant this (PDF download file).

From this page, full of useful information:

http://www.bnsf.com/ship-with-bnsf/pricing-and-tools/index.html

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Posted by Deggesty on Friday, January 31, 2020 7:54 AM

BaltACD

 

 
Deggesty
 
jeffhergert

Where possible to see, some other BNSF well cars have the same stencil.  One of the Trailer-Train well cars has a stencil that says "Restrictred Interchange Car - See Official Guide". 

Other cars don't appear to have any such stenciling, but it's hard to see on many cars.  Where it appears, is the end wells of a multi-well car.

Jeff  

Is this the Official Guide to freight railroads?

 

I suspect Jeff meant 'Equipment Register'.  UMLER is the computer accessable Equipment Register.

 

I agree. 

Johnny

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Posted by BaltACD on Thursday, January 30, 2020 8:38 PM

Deggesty
 
jeffhergert

Where possible to see, some other BNSF well cars have the same stencil.  One of the Trailer-Train well cars has a stencil that says "Restrictred Interchange Car - See Official Guide". 

Other cars don't appear to have any such stenciling, but it's hard to see on many cars.  Where it appears, is the end wells of a multi-well car.

Jeff  

Is this the Official Guide to freight railroads?

I suspect Jeff meant 'Equipment Register'.  UMLER is the computer accessable Equipment Register.

Never too old to have a happy childhood!

              

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Posted by Deggesty on Thursday, January 30, 2020 7:54 PM

jeffhergert

Where possible to see, some other BNSF well cars have the same stencil.  One of the Trailer-Train well cars has a stencil that says "Restrictred Interchange Car - See Official Guide". 

Other cars don't appear to have any such stenciling, but it's hard to see on many cars.  Where it appears, is the end wells of a multi-well car.

Jeff 

 

Is this the Official Guide to freight railroads?

Johnny

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Posted by jeffhergert on Thursday, January 30, 2020 5:28 PM

Where possible to see, some other BNSF well cars have the same stencil.  One of the Trailer-Train well cars has a stencil that says "Restrictred Interchange Car - See Official Guide". 

Other cars don't appear to have any such stenciling, but it's hard to see on many cars.  Where it appears, is the end wells of a multi-well car.

Jeff 

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Posted by Falcon48 on Thursday, January 30, 2020 12:20 PM

Paul_D_North_Jr

As I understand it (which is not a terribly well-informed basis), non-interchange cars can be accepted by another railroad if there is a specifc agreement to that effect, which would supersede the general rules on interchange.  The concept is that an interchange car can run anyplace that will accept its "Plate" clearance diagram, and all railroads are required to accept it on that basis.  However, while non-interchange cars can run on their home railroads based on that railroad's internal rules, the other railroads are not required to accept them.  But they may choose to accept them by agreement.  

Or something like that.  Others here - like PNWMAC - can correct or supplement my explanation as appropriate.

- PDN. 

 

  Correct. AAR interchange rules (and most other AAR industry rules) specifically allow two or more railroads to depart from the otherwise applicable AAR rules by mutual agreement.  The alternate agreement, of course, only applies to the consenting roads.  Traffic handled with a non-consenting road remains subject to the AAR rules.  

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Posted by cx500 on Sunday, January 26, 2020 3:35 PM

Murphy Siding
Wouldn't / shouldn't there be a rule in place that says the stencil needs to be changed when the status is changed? If not, what's the point in stenciling the info on the car?

Folks assigning the next load to the car might (possibly) look at the computer first, but if they are half a continent away a small stencil painted on the side of a car will not be visible.  Often these sort of things applied for a relatively short-lived captive service, or when the car is brand new, or until the railroad agrees to join a general equipment pool.

For better or worse, sometimes the central office will assume paperwork or computer data is correct despite what everybody in the field is actually seeing.  They think "what does a conductor with 20 years experience know; I have a new degree and he is just being insubordinate" like EHH seems to have preached.

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Posted by BaltACD on Sunday, January 26, 2020 1:47 PM

Murphy Siding
 
cx500

The status of the car has probably changed, and if so, updated in UMLER.  Painting out a superseded stencil on the car is not likely to happen, except by vandals.  Locating a car, and assigning a carman with suitable paint, costs money and increases the operating ratio. 

Wouldn't / shouldn't there be a rule in place that says the stencil needs to be changed when the status is changed? If not, what's the point in stenciling the info on the car?

Check UMLER on the car before making any final decision.

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Posted by Murphy Siding on Sunday, January 26, 2020 12:02 PM

cx500

The status of the car has probably changed, and if so, updated in UMLER.  Painting out a superseded stencil on the car is not likely to happen, except by vandals.  Locating a car, and assigning a carman with suitable paint, costs money and increases the operating ratio.

 

Wouldn't / shouldn't there be a rule in place that says the stencil needs to be changed when the status is changed? If not, what's the point in stenciling the info on the car?

Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.

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Posted by 1019x on Saturday, January 25, 2020 5:29 PM

PDN has it correct. A freight car designed to meet AAR Freight Car interchange design standards. must be accepted in interchange if the car is mechanically sound and its height doesn't exceed clearance for the intended route. A car that does not meet some aspect of the standard is considered an "agreement car that the receiving carrier has the right to refuse. 

A good example is the articulated well cars in the video. Interchange cars are expected to be handled and switched including being humped. Their underframes are designed to handle that impact. Articulated well cars while very robust do not meet that standard since those cars are normally not humped.

Charlie Powell

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Posted by Paul_D_North_Jr on Saturday, January 25, 2020 2:33 PM

As I understand it (which is not a terribly well-informed basis), non-interchange cars can be accepted by another railroad if there is a specifc agreement to that effect, which would supersede the general rules on interchange.  The concept is that an interchange car can run anyplace that will accept its "Plate" clearance diagram, and all railroads are required to accept it on that basis.  However, while non-interchange cars can run on their home railroads based on that railroad's internal rules, the other railroads are not required to accept them.  But they may choose to accept them by agreement.  

Or something like that.  Others here - like PNWMAC - can correct or supplement my explanation as appropriate.

- PDN. 

"This Fascinating Railroad Business" (title of 1943 book by Robert Selph Henry of the AAR)
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Posted by cx500 on Friday, January 24, 2020 2:21 AM

The status of the car has probably changed, and if so, updated in UMLER.  Painting out a superseded stencil on the car is not likely to happen, except by vandals.  Locating a car, and assigning a carman with suitable paint, costs money and increases the operating ratio.

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Posted by daveklepper on Friday, January 24, 2020 1:07 AM

It may be a BNSF Haulage-rights container train, definitely operated by CSX crews and may use CSX power to the North Baltimore intermodal center.

With abandonment by HH of the Hub-and-Spoke CoF system, CSX's N. Baltimore had huge excess capacity.  So CSX offered it to both UP and BNSF as an eastern intermodal terminal, and BNSF took the opportunity.

Someone else can describe the route and crew-change points.  Also how CSX gets its share of the revenue.

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Non-interchange car on a foreign road?
Posted by jlehnert on Thursday, January 23, 2020 6:55 PM

Watching a video of a container train and had a question.  As the last car goes by, the camera operator pans and follows the end.  The last car is a BNSF well car, and a sign near the car end states "Non-Interchange Car, See Equipment Register".  If it's not for interchange, what's it doing on CSX tracks?  Are there exceptions to the interchange rules?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-0I4b_NBTI @ 10:07

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