Well, im probably gonna find out this was simple but I'll give it a go.
How come on ethanol trains they have a freight car between the locos and another at the end? Its been on my head so i just figure I'd ask.
thanks!
As far as I know, the two cars, usually boxcars, carry supplies to deal with any kind of spill in the case of derailments.
How about rules for hazardous material cars...buffer car(s) required for safety. Check the hazmat rules.
he is correct, the idler cars are buffers in case of incident. the one on the rear is for a buffer when the train needs helpers on the rear.
why the buffer cars? well, last night i heard the dispatcher refer to it as the "kaboom " train.....
Its for safety. ethanol trains are not the only things that need a buffer between the car and the locomotive. I do not know if they need to be an empty car or not. Some one may have a list of products that require a buffer.
There is an ethanol plant on the way to my parents and I always see a couple boxcars sitting amongst the hoppers and tank cars on sidings and I always wondered why but never saw them assembled into a moving train.
OK, thanks for the info!
If I can recall my HazMat training from 20 years ago--I think one particular problem with Ethanol is that in daylight you cannot see the flame if it catches fire. gj
Quote from: glennk28 on December 30, 2009, 08:42:20 PM
If I can recall my HazMat training from 20 years ago--I think one particular problem with Ethanol is that in daylight you cannot see the flame if it catches fire. gj
That sounds right to me as well.
A few years ago I heard they were going to add something in ethanol so you could see it burn during the day for safety.
NM