Whats the lightest product shipped by full car load? I'd guess it would not be helium, feathers, bubble wrap or packing peanuts,,, but I could be wrong.
Modeling the "Fargo Area Rapid Transit" in O scale 3 rail.
Sailboat fuel.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
I would guess it would be foamed styrene beads... ("Styrofoam") Raw material for making Styrofoam fitted shipping/packing inserts.
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
tree68 Sailboat fuel.
Johnny
Deggesty tree68 Sailboat fuel. Doesn't that usually travel in MT's being returned to the home road?
Doesn't that usually travel in MT's being returned to the home road?
It's a non-revenue commodity and generally created in its heated form in Board Rooms in mass quantities.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
BaltACD Deggesty tree68 Sailboat fuel. Doesn't that usually travel in MT's being returned to the home road? It's a non-revenue commodity and generally created in its heated form in Board Rooms in mass quantities.
Semper VaporoI would guess it would be foamed styrene beads... ("Styrofoam") Raw material for making Styrofoam fitted shipping/packing inserts.
I think the manufacture of styrene begins with liquids. But large blocks of foam are being used in construction as lightweight fill that is buried under dirt.
It has to get to the job site or distributer somehow, so why not by rail.
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
That sure looks like a open pit styrofoam mine to me!!
I'd go with Styrofoam, too. Couldn't resist my first answer.
Is balsa shipped in any significant quantities?
I recall reading about a fellow who bid some low price to haul a ton of balsa by truck from point A to point B. After the first few loads he regretted his bid...
carknocker1Evonick here in Mobile ships a material called arocil
Aerosil is 'fumed silica' (think of it as very finely divided quartz). The process used to make it, and some of its 'brother' compounds, is interesting. Among other things, it greatly increases the strength of common silicone caulk compounds and fiberglass gel coat.
I don't know if aerogels are being bulk-shipped, but they would surely qualify for lightest material if they are.
Christmas Tree ornaments. I actually came across such a carload once.
Revenue empty. It is a "full" load (1 car), is waybilled, but only weighs the tare weight.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
dehusman Revenue empty. It is a "full" load (1 car), is waybilled, but only weighs the tare weight.
Would an idler flat for an oversized load fall under this classification??
greyhounds Christmas Tree ornaments. I actually came across such a carload once.
And down the hump it goes!
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.
Semper,
Polystyrene 'beads' actually are heavy. They start out as hard plastic infused with a gas, nitrogen I think, and are steam expanded to size. The loose fill 'peanuts' we all see, and get all over the place, start out about the size of a raisin. A box car of 'peanuts' isn't gunna weigh much, (.25#/cft). A normal semi trailer holding 297 14cft bags is 1,039.5 lb.
Bob
zugmann greyhounds Christmas Tree ornaments. I actually came across such a carload once. And down the hump it goes!
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
gregc Semper Vaporo I would guess it would be foamed styrene beads... ("Styrofoam") Raw material for making Styrofoam fitted shipping/packing inserts. I think the manufacture of styrene begins with liquids. But large blocks of foam are being used in construction as lightweight fill that is buried under dirt. It has to get to the job site or distributer somehow, so why not by rail.
Semper Vaporo I would guess it would be foamed styrene beads... ("Styrofoam") Raw material for making Styrofoam fitted shipping/packing inserts.
Are empty 2-liter soda bottles manufactured on-site at the bottling plant, or are they manufactured at some central point and distributed? I know that I could lift a whole pickup load of empties with one hand - the real weight is the boxes I put them in for their trip to recycling.
Chuck
At the ICG we hauled empty beer cans TOFC from Oak Creek, WI to Memphis. Then we brought loaded beer cans back north.
tomikawaTT Are empty 2-liter soda bottles manufactured on-site at the bottling plant, or are they manufactured at some central point and distributed? I know that I could lift a whole pickup load of empties with one hand - the real weight is the boxes I put them in for their trip to recycling. Chuck
I can't say for certain, but I'm guessing they may finish the bottles on site.
I've seen the "blanks" from which the bottles are made - they look almost like a test tube with a soda bottle top. Add a cap and they make a good "sharps" container (we've used them for EMS for putting used needles in after starting IV's in the field).
I would presume the blanks are put on a machine that heats the plastic and vacuum-forms it to the finished product.
Plastic, PET, bottles are typically mfg off site. They palletize them standing upright, no cap, cover each layer with a seperator sheet until they get a pallet about 8' tall. It moves through a strapping machine then a stretch wrapping machine, all fully automated. Really cool to watch the prosess. Milk bottles, different plactic, are typically created via 'Blow molding' on site at the bottling plant. Also interesting to watch.
Norm
Norm48327
Weigh station trooper IQ test - FAIL
Probably "formed" styrafoam clamshell packinging for holding electronic goods (TV's, steros, etc. We used to handle them on a shorthaul from a forming plant in Ohio to a television plant in Indiana - a full load would weigh less that 900 lbs.
On the other side of the coin, we also hauled granite tombstones out of Vermont for the Veterans Adminstration (the standard-issue 36"x 18"x6" version. Didn't take many to make a legal load - and you had to place them just so
and block them in place to keep the axle loadings under the limit.
Anything for a backhaul....
helium filled tank cars would weight less than the empty weight of the car
gregchelium filled tank cars would weight less than the empty weight of the car
Depends a lot on the pressure. At one atmosphere, the car will be marginally lighter. You wouldn't notice the difference if it ran over your foot.
Pressurize the tanks at 2000PSI (14,700kPa) or more, and the car is heavier.
http://docs.airliquide.com.au/TechSpecs/03313un1046helium,compressed.pdf
gregc Semper Vaporo I would guess it would be foamed styrene beads... ("Styrofoam") Raw material for making Styrofoam fitted shipping/packing inserts. It has to get to the job site or distributer somehow, so why not by rail.
- Paul North.
tree68Depends a lot on the pressure.
of course. But what about the empty helium tank car? wouldn't it be filled with residual helium at some low pressure? Or would the residual helium be extracted somehow, leaving a vacuum that is ready for the next load of helium? Would a tank car with a vacuum weight even less than helium?
It's a fun topic. But I think the empty helium tank cars with residual helium may be realistic.
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