Anyone see the current MR briefly discuss buffer cars? I get their purpose and plan to model them, but must I have five cars between the engine(s) and tank cars that carry AA or LPGs? What about if the tank cars are empty? Also, can you have a consist of tank cars that haul LPG and fuel oil together?
Where to find 33,000g HO tanks? Many I see are $25+ and built after my timeframe--early 1980s.
TIA!
I've watched the real trains on webcam and there's only the buffer car after the engine and then the tank cars. I model modern, and will add a buffer car down the road when I run long trains. My tank cars atr 17,600 Trinity corn syrup tank cars so no buffer is needed, I think. Athearn made 30,000 & 33,900 LPG & ethanol cars.
Neal
http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=30K+Ethanol+Tank+RTR&CatID=THRF
http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=ATHG+LPG+Tank&CatID=THRF
The crude oil & ethanol trains I see have 1 buffer car after the locomotive, & 1 buffer car on the rear of the train. The buffer cars are sometimes marked "FOR BUFFER SERVICE ONLY", but not always.
Tom
Pittsburgh, PA
kasskabooseI get their purpose and plan to model them, but must I have five cars between the engine(s) and tank cars that carry AA or LPGs?
If they are in a unit train, no. Mixed trains, I dont remember, but I am thinking yes.
kasskaboose What about if the tank cars are empty?
They are not considered empty once unloaded. Tank cars containing hazmat are treated as if it contains hazmat and will stay posted as such even when unloaded. Placards can only be removed when car is washed out completely.
Another question: Does the buffer car rule apply only to mainline operation, or include branchline? What about local switching?
kasskaboose ....Where to find 33,000g HO tanks? Many I see are $25+ and built after my timeframe--early 1980s.
....Where to find 33,000g HO tanks? Many I see are $25+ and built after my timeframe--early 1980s.
I don't think that you would have seen much of ethanol trains in the early '80s, and possibly not those same larger tank cars, either.
Wayne
There are supposed to be 5 buffer cars if there are at least 5 cars not carrying hazardous materials in the train. If there are less non-hazmat cars, then that is the quantity of buffer cars required. If all cars are hazmat, then an additional car is required.
It looks like combustible liquids (as opposed to flammable liquids) and Class 9 loads do not require buffer cars.
The requirement for buffers also applies to DPUs, occupied cars, and cars with ignition sources (if the hazmat is flammable).
Also, some types of hazarous materials cannot be next to each other.
I believe the rules apply to anything outside of yard limits.
"No soup for you!" - Yev Kassem (from Seinfeld)
The hazmat rules are Federal so they apply to all railroad in the US, there different rules for switching and train placement, yard limits has absolutely nothing to do with it.
The current hazmat rules that a real train uses would cover both sides of 25 sheets of paper, and includes 2 charts, so I will be condensing things in my answer.
For train placement, a loaded hazmat TANK car cannot be closer than the 6th car from an engine, occupied caboose or passenger car. If train length does not permit, the car must be at least the second car from the engine, occupied caboose or passenger car.
What that means is that there have to be 5 cars of cover. If there aren't 5 cars of cover in the train, all the cover cars available have to be used, but there has to be at least one car of cover. If a train has 50 cars and 45 are eligible for cover then there have to be at least 5 cars of cover. If the train has 50 cars and only 9 of them are eligible as cover cars, all the cover cars in the train have to be used (5 on one end, 4 on the other.) If the train has 50 cars and none of them are eligible for cover (a loaded unit placarded train) then at least 1 car of cover will have to be added where required (train length does not permit there to be 5 cars of cover, i.e. there aren't 5 cars of cover naturally in the train).
A buffer or cover car is any non-placarded car, a placarded empty car or a loaded car placarded with "green column" (see hazmat rules) placards (combustible, hot, marine polluntant, explosives 1.6, etc).
A placarded load that requires cover cannot be next to a radioactive, PIH/TIH or high explosives (1.1 or 1.2) and radioactive, PIH/TIH and high explosives can't be next to each other, but can be next to similar cars. So LPG can be next to sulphuric acid which can be next to ethanol. Hydrocyanic acid (TIH/PIH) cannot be next to LPG, radioactive or a car load of bombs.
Really, really condensed version of the rules.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com