# Tank car operation



## qora01m (Jun 12, 2013)

Hi there,

I got a short question on operation of tanker car unit trains. I noticed that in contemporary videos there's always a hopper car as the first car behind the locos. That's for safety reasons I guess in order to prevent occasional fire in a loco to catch one of the tankers. Now my question: since when is this common use (or has it always been so)?

Thanks in advance for anyones advice!

Frank


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Frank, I think that it is more to protect the engine and crew from a burning tank car rather than the other way.


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## gra2472 (Mar 1, 2009)

It's a "cover car" required for trains carrying hazardous materials. It can be any inert car that won't react with the tank cars, and it cannot be a shiftable load that extends above a bulk head, such as a gondola loaded with pipe. The rule actually requires 5 cover cars between the locomotive and the hazardous cars but with the exception of "availability". If you have five inert cars in your train, you have to block them to the headend as covers, but if you only have one car available, then you can use one. Other inert tank cars can also be cover cars, and not all placarded cars are hazardous, such as hot tar loads. Sometimes you will find trains with several different types of hazardous materials and cover cars between each block to prevent unintentional mixing if there were leaks or a wreck. The best is when I working for a company that contracted with the military to switch and build "military grade" trains bound for all over the country. We often had to wait for UP or BNSF to bring us the cover cars before we could assemble the train entirely for departure, but we often joked that a hopper car is little insurance against what's on the other side of it.


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## djacobsen (Jul 20, 2011)

Frank, 
here's a link to the UP Equipment & Procedures page: 
http://www.uprr.com/customers/chemical/crude/equipment.shtml 

The page will give you UP's answer to your question. 
Dave


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## qora01m (Jun 12, 2013)

Thanks guys for all the help and info! Very much appreciated


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

This information has not been mentioned as yet, so I thought I would post it here. 

There is a LOT of concern for the huge shipments of crude oil by rail that have have burgeoned onto the public eye in the last few years. What most people, and many railroad enthusiasts do not realize is that the railroads, themselves, own very few tank cars. Unlike hoppers, gondolas, ore cars, and boxcars, tank cars are built for large leasing companies, who least them to shippers. That is why the railroads' PR people reply to voiced concerns (about tank car safety) that it is out of their hands. Railroad operating departments are doing what they can to keep the tank trains moving safely, but it is the leasing companies who are responsible for upgrading the tank car fleets. I would expect those upgrades would require a HUGE investment.

Of course, the usual corporate "passing of the buck" also gets involved. Tank car leasing companies tend to try to "spin" the responsibility back onto the railroad companies. If you understand how the tank cars are owned and leased, you can see the dishonesty in that "spin."

Just thought I would mention how the system works, so the rest of you will be more informed the next time you hear something in the news, where a tank car leasing company's PR person is trying to cast blame on a railroad company for a tank car malfunction.

FYI,
David Meashey


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## Doug C (Jan 14, 2008)

shrek; "... change is good, donkey...." 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/12/oil-rail-surcharge-idUSL2N0LH2AF20140212

http://research.tdwaterhouse.ca/research/public/Markets/CommoditiesNews?documentKey=1314-L2N0LH2AF-1

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investi...rail-firms-adopt-safer-tank-cars-their-n30936


nite !


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