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Emptying woodchip hoppers...

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  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Martinez, CA
  • 5,440 posts
Posted by markpierce on Sunday, November 1, 2009 6:21 PM

ConcoPhillips Santa Maria refinery's only finished products are petroleum coke and sulfur.  The refinery process sour, heavy coke.  The semi-refined product, after sulfur and coke extractions, are shipped via a 250-mile pipeline to the company's Rodeo refinery for further refining.  Company policy prevented me taking photos within the refinery grounds at Santa Maria, but satellite shots should show the large piles of sulfur and coke within less than a mile south of the refinery.  The sulfur is used as a fungicide on local vineyards, and the coke is shipped overseas to be used as fuel.

 

  • Member since
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Posted by Southgate on Friday, April 27, 2018 9:20 PM

lonewoof

 So what would you call one of these? It has slope sheets, and bottom doors (hinged across the width of the car), so is it a hopper?

 

 

 

I'm reviving this old thread in the hopes that Lonewoof could possibly reload his blanked out picture, from a hosting service that currently works, please! I'm looking to build up a fleet of chip cars, not requiring a rotary dump. Dan

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Posted by 7j43k on Saturday, April 28, 2018 10:28 AM

Southgate

 

 

I'm reviving this old thread in the hopes that Lonewoof could possibly reload his blanked out picture, from a hosting service that currently works, please! I'm looking to build up a fleet of chip cars, not requiring a rotary dump. Dan

 

 

I "opted out" of reading this whole topic.  Intermountain makes woodchip cars based on drop-bottom gondolas:

 

http://www.intermountain-railway.com/distrib/redcaboose/html/RR-35203.htm

 

They come in several roadnames.  You could also build your own.

In particular, note that they do not require a rotary dump, since they have the doors.

 

Ed

 

 

  • Member since
    September 2003
  • From: California - moved to North Carolina 2018
  • 4,422 posts
Posted by DSchmitt on Saturday, April 28, 2018 3:27 PM

Not sure  what lonewoof  is describing. Could it be

Ballast Hopper

http://www.angelfire.com/il/cnw/open.html

Or

Coalporter

http://www.matts-place.com/trains/coal/images/tgnx30051.jpg

 

 

I tried to sell my two cents worth, but no one would give me a plug nickel for it.

I don't have a leg to stand on.

  • Member since
    April 2013
  • 917 posts
Posted by Southgate on Saturday, April 28, 2018 10:50 PM

Thank you for the replies and further photo support. Since I posted that request, I realized that I don't need the cars to unload at my chip pile. It could be used to LOAD the hoppers, gons, converted box cars, AND the ship at the dock. To this day a large chip facility in Coos Bay loads ships and rail cars. It is fed by chip trucks, and I could scratchbuild a few, enough to easily represent the trucks-in, rail and ships-out transfer.

Modern day method, I know, uses large cars built just for this purpose, but I'm modeling the early days of stopping the burning of waste material and chipping and using more. So converted cars will suffice. 

I remember the trucks in my youth running highways 42 and 101 in Oregon with a slogan on the backs of the trailers; "We Haul Smoke" Dan

  • Member since
    October 2001
  • From: OH
  • 17,574 posts
Posted by BRAKIE on Sunday, April 29, 2018 10:23 AM

7j43k
I "opted out" of reading this whole topic. Intermountain makes wood chip cars based on drop-bottom gondolas:

Ed,I suspect those SP&S drop-bottom gondolas was used for sugar beets not wood chips.

Larry

Conductor.

Summerset Ry.


"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt  Safety First!"

  • Member since
    May 2004
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Posted by 7j43k on Sunday, April 29, 2018 11:21 AM

BRAKIE

 

 
7j43k
I "opted out" of reading this whole topic. Intermountain makes wood chip cars based on drop-bottom gondolas:

 

Ed,I suspect those SP&S drop-bottom gondolas was used for sugar beets not wood chips.

 

 

Oh, no.  The SP&S homebuilt their various conversions specifically for woodchip service.  I believe they even bought some UP drop-bottoms and did the same.

Now, on the SP, there surely were sugar beet cars that looked pretty much the same.  I once "rescued" a sugar beet from the truck sideframe of one of them.

 

Ed

  • Member since
    October 2001
  • From: OH
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Posted by BRAKIE on Sunday, April 29, 2018 11:36 AM

Ed,As you know GN and SP&S ran solid sugar beet trains.There was a article in Trains magazine many years ago covering sugar beet trains that's why I thought that  SP&S gon was a sugar beet car.

Larry

Conductor.

Summerset Ry.


"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt  Safety First!"

  • Member since
    May 2004
  • 7,500 posts
Posted by 7j43k on Sunday, April 29, 2018 12:21 PM

Larry,

I've not heard of SP&S handling solid sugar beet trains, or generating any sugar beet traffic.  I'd sure like to hear more.  From a map of sugar beet growing, it looks like there's a little bit around Pasco, so maybe some could come from there.

I went back through some articles on the SP&S cars.  They were all built for use as woodchip cars.  And were so assigned.

I suppose it's possible that some hauled sugar beets on occasion.  If the cars are available, and there's a need, why not?

 

Oh, yes.  Besides the SP&S woodchip car by Intermountain/Red Caboose, there's also the Intermountain Caswell cars.  SP&S converted some of those, too.

 

 

Ed

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