Holy Bulging Box Cars Batman!

[jeaton]

I know what the roof damage is from. Haven't you guys ever seen the loading/receiving foreman get really PO'd?

Jay

[edblysard]

Overmod,
Dont know what railroad you work for, but if I delivered a leaking box car, with a swelled load to Pasadena paper, I would be back out there in about a hour, to pick up the bad order car, and our claim agent would be on the phone with a POed customer...
All the boxes we have ever delivered with paper, scrap, newsprint or other, may look like crud on the outside, but the insides are operating room clean...
shippers wont take a leaking boxcar, and if one is damaged in route, it is bad ordered before delivery to the customer, repaired, and the contents paid for....

I have watched the forklift drivers down here on the dock, they bang the heck out of the roof, tear up the doors, I even watched one drive out the other side, after his buddies removed the crossover ramp...
Randy pointed out the mill gons with the brake wheel bent, or the morons hook a tow chain to the cut lever, just about anywhere but the tow eye or tow pocket...

Count on the bulge being mechanical damage caused by loaders...a leaking box would be bad order at the first chance...
No road would want to take the chance of being tagged with the repair cost and the content damage claim, count on it being set out to the rip long before it got to the receiver or the shipper..

Ed

[Overmod]

Mark, I think you're onto something here. (Now see if we can get Mook to catch'em in the act...!)

[Anonymous]

" what do you mean?"
....
"that huge hole was when we hi... got it!"
....
"we arn't paying!"
....
"the hole was there!"

UP: *click*

[Anonymous]

My mommy told me that bulging boxcars were where little new baby flatcars came from[:-^][:-^]

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Overmod

OK, this has been a hoot, but nobody seems to have figured out the situation.

I thought I knew the answer right away, but additional confirmation came from a later post that noted what was being loaded into these cars.

If a boxcar is loaded full of a commodity that will swell if it gets wet, and then gets a roof leak, the commodity will expand. Transverse loading like this will rapidly bulge out, and eventually break, flat surfaces... both roof and side... on boxcars. (There were some very good pictures of this in Trains many years ago... for some reason I remember 1971 as the year).

Bulges in the roof only would imply that the car was full of something that swelled fairly quickly in response to a leak in the roof material or seams... but that kept water away from material 'lower down' in the car once it had done so. Also that the material lower down was fairly dense in compression.

Scrap paper, especially if 'bundled' using one of the presses commonly in use, would be a prime candidate for this kind of problem imho.

Hmmm...that makes sense. I wasn't thinking about the cargo itself...between that and the forklifts......Thanks.

[Randy Stahl]

If you look inside the cars you can see the scrapes from forklifts... The bulging is almost always near the doors. I'll bet that some of it is deliberate by the forklift drivers, Iv'e seen some major damage the the roof panels. Of course thats AFTER they pull the car around for spotting by the hand brake wheel , or use a front end loader to push on the stirrups, or pull the doors open (off ) with a monster truck, and don't forget if you have a loaded gondola to load the scrap iron while the metal is still molten so you soften the metal carbody and burn all the paint off !
Randy

[Overmod]

OK, this has been a hoot, but nobody seems to have figured out the situation.

I thought I knew the answer right away, but additional confirmation came from a later post that noted what was being loaded into these cars.

If a boxcar is loaded full of a commodity that will swell if it gets wet, and then gets a roof leak, the commodity will expand. Transverse loading like this will rapidly bulge out, and eventually break, flat surfaces... both roof and side... on boxcars. (There were some very good pictures of this in Trains many years ago... for some reason I remember 1971 as the year).

Bulges in the roof only would imply that the car was full of something that swelled fairly quickly in response to a leak in the roof material or seams... but that kept water away from material 'lower down' in the car once it had done so. Also that the material lower down was fairly dense in compression.

Scrap paper, especially if 'bundled' using one of the presses commonly in use, would be a prime candidate for this kind of problem imho.

[Junctionfan]

If they haven't had a shower in a long time they might be marked inhalation hazard.

[Randy Stahl]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jruppert

Are dead aliens considered hazmat? How would these cars be marked?

DO NOT HUMP !!!

[Anonymous]

Are dead aliens considered hazmat? How would these cars be marked?

[Mookie]

Mudchix or anyone else - a few years back - didn't some states have to give permission to haul spent nuclear fuel across the state boarders? Seem to remember we had a stink here in Nebraska about that. Refresh my memory.....

Mookie

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by edblysard

Dan has the answer...the forklift driver wasn't paying attention...

Note the doors have both door height and width clearances marked, and the inside height clearance of the boxcar noted right on the door...

Weirdest one I have seen so far not only had the forklift bulge, but, for reasons unknown, a pile of dirt on top of the bump, with grass growing in it...


Ed[:D] I had a mental picture of this and had to quit reading for a couple of minutes while I wiped the tears out of my eyes!

Mook

[mudchicken]

nope

[Anonymous]

Do RR need special permits/permissions from each state to carry stuff like that? Do they need to inform states before they cross state lines?

[locomutt]

OH,I got it;
You mean the "THe Battle of New Orleans" by Johnny Horton"(the alligator)
"put a cannonball in it's mouth,and powdered its behind"
That might raise the roof on anything[:D]

[mudchicken]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Limitedclear

QUOTE: Originally posted by mudchicken

Whut the? Ya mean that industries don't take care of revenue cars like they were their own?[(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]

Oh, no, they always treat the equipment like gold...FOFLMAO....

"Honest, that ladder was all torn up when we got it. No, nevermid that paiint transfer on our front end loader..."

"We never use it to move the cars..."

LC

...and then they complain the loudest to the car distributor / mobile agent/ logistics guy that they get such crappy pool cars to serve them![}:)][}:)][}:] [;)][;)][;)]

[Junctionfan]

Doesn't ammunition trains have a caboose on it for security crews? I would hate to think what would happen if that thing was hijacked.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mudchicken

Whut the? Ya mean that industries don't take care of revenue cars like they were their own?[(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]

Oh, no, they always treat the equipment like gold...FOFLMAO....

"Honest, that ladder was all torn up when we got it. No, nevermid that paiint transfer on our front end loader..."

"We never use it to move the cars..."

LC

[corwinda]

I have seen the roof bulges in lots of boxcars; but I seem to notice it more on SP cars.

[mudchicken]

Whut the? Ya mean that industries don't take care of revenue cars like they were their own?[(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]

[UPTRAIN]

Hope no middle easterners are looking at this forum....(the ones that want to get us, not the friendly muslim).

[espeefoamer]

An ammo boxcar would be red and have a large bulls eye painted on the side and would explode into 5 or 6 pieces when hit by a missile launched from a rocket fireing flatcar[;)]!

[Junctionfan]

I not talking about howitzer stuff. Good god man, I hope they would use box cars like that. I was thinking about bullets or something like that for hunting rifles and handguns.

[edblysard]

Dan has the answer...the forklift driver wasn't paying attention...

Note the doors have both door height and width clearances marked, and the inside height clearance of the boxcar noted right on the door...

Weirdest one I have seen so far not only had the forklift bulge, but, for reasons unknown, a pile of dirt on top of the bump, with grass growing in it...


Ed[:D]

[Anonymous]

I've noticed this bulging on these cars as well--perhaps they were purposely shoved up some to increase capacity??? The ones I noticed were being loaded with bales of scrap paper. Anyone know for sure?

[dharmon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Junctionfan

Does any of the ammunition industries take boxcars for the transport of their finnished products?

The roofs are still there...along with downtown San Diego.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Randy Stahl

QUOTE: Originally posted by Mookie

Warm Beer and a rough ride!

You would hear belching... not screaming.

Those damn Canadian mice got at the Molsons again...LOL

LC

[Junctionfan]

Does any of the ammunition industries take boxcars for the transport of their finnished products?