Two air hoses?

[Anonymous]

The rotary dump cars with rotary couplers on both ends have been around since the beginning of high volume rotary dump unit coal and rock train service. Originally, there was one in the middle of each unit train consist to reverse the direction that the rotary couplers point. Ahead of this car, the rotary couplers were on the front and behind, on the rear. This was to accommodate the fixed coupler on the locomotive and the fixed coupler on the caboose, so that the entire consist could be run through the dumper without breaking the train.

Now, on many roads, you're just as likely to see a double rotary car, but since there's no caboose, it's there to accommodate the DPU(s) on the rear of the train. You still have to reverse the couplers because that locomotive on the rear also does not have a rotary coupler.

[edblysard]

If you mean the "bathtub" gons, with the rounded bottoms, then your correct, they dont have doors.
Those were designed to be rotary dumped...note most of them have a colored end, often green, yellow or red, depends on the owner, which denotes which end of the car has a rotary coupler.
This allows that car to be turned upside down, while the cars it is coupled to remain upright.
Some of the newer ones have a rotary coupler at both ends, those that have only one rotary coupler, you will find them all coupled with the painted end facing the same direction....

Ed

[UPTRAIN]

I had wondered this same thing, what about bethgons, they don't have doors do they? They don't have the extra hose either.

[edblysard]

The cars with the "second" air hose use the locomotive compressor to charge up reservoirs on the cars, which then can be used to open the dump doors, as opposed to a rotary dumper or a man with a lever cranking the bottom doors out...

If you get a closer look, you will see the pneumatic ram used to open the bottom dump doors; it’s on the same end as the brake reservoir.

The fact that you see them mixed in with cars that don’t have the other hose is due to the fact that those cars have reached the end of their service life, and are living out their last years in some sort of shuttle service where the automatic dump doors are no longer needed.

If, on the other hand, all the cars in the consist are the same, but the hoses are not hooked up, then the receiver dosnt need to use the bottom dump doors, they either have a rotary dump, or a back hoe type unloader, so they dont bother to lace up the dump door hoses.

And, to prevent you from accidentally hooking them up to the train line, the glad hands on these hoses are left handed, as opposed to the right handed ones on the train brakes, they wont mate up to each other.

Ed

[Willy2]

I have noticed that coal trains have more than one air hose. There is one down by the coupler like on other trains but also one up higher about half way from the top of the car. Sometimes it is connected and some times it is disconnected. What is the purpose of this second air hose? Or is it even an air hose?

Thanks