Operations around Nashua, NH

oh, thanks. I also saw some cement cars in concord a few weeks ago, i dont remember exactly what they said on them, but i remember the word quebec. I'm assuming those also got handed off to New England Southern.

Tankcar color & size are scarcely the best way to tell what's in em. And not all are stenciled with what they contain. Best way to ID hazmats is to read the 4-digit UN number on the diamond-shaped placards.
The more common ones (relevant to Nashua discussion):
1824-caustic soda
1075-LP gas
1017-chlorine (inhalation hazard)
1079-sulfur dioxide (inhalation hazard)
1005-anhydrous ammonia (inhalation hazard)
Jones Chemical used to get cyanides a long time ago (80's - early 90's) including solid sodium cyanide (1680 I think) and hydrogen cyanide (1051, but these were long white tankers with a red stripe with special large POISON placards, mounted wooden boards saying "do not re-rail car" and Chemtrec info because that stuff is so deadly...it's the gas used in gas chamber executions).
I'm a chemistry geek and a long time ago I brushed up on the hazmat numbers before applying for a transload job at Beacon Park that I never got. I still have a couple hundred hazmats memorized, if anybody needs to know one.

elbow wrote:oh, thanks. I also saw some cement cars in concord a few weeks ago, i dont remember exactly what they said on them, but i remember the word quebec. I'm assuming those also got handed off to New England Southern.

The cars were Ciment Quebec cars. Yes, also NEGS cars, but they actually go to a customer just south of Bow.

consist wrote:Tankcar color & size are scarcely the best way to tell what's in em. And not all are stenciled with what they contain. Best way to ID hazmats is to read the 4-digit UN number on the diamond-shaped placards.
The more common ones (relevant to Nashua discussion):
1824-caustic soda
1075-LP gas
1017-chlorine (inhalation hazard)
1079-sulfur dioxide (inhalation hazard)
1005-anhydrous ammonia (inhalation hazard)
Jones Chemical used to get cyanides a long time ago (80's - early 90's) including solid sodium cyanide (1680 I think) and hydrogen cyanide (1051, but these were long white tankers with a red stripe with special large POISON placards, mounted wooden boards saying "do not re-rail car" and Chemtrec info because that stuff is so deadly...it's the gas used in gas chamber executions).
I'm a chemistry geek and a long time ago I brushed up on the hazmat numbers before applying for a transload job at Beacon Park that I never got. I still have a couple hundred hazmats memorized, if anybody needs to know one.

There are several types of chemicals that travel in tank cars not stencilled for what they carry and you have only the placards to tell what the car is holding. However, that generally only applies to cars that can carry a variety of chemicals or flammables.

But many cars are designed for one specific load. For a number of reasons, But mainly certain hazmats require special fittings and safety systems or the tank is specially lined. The other reason is some hazmats must remain ultra pure and cannot travel in tanks that carry another hazmat. In these instances the cars are almost always stencilled with the contents. Examples of cars that are dedicated to one load only and will always be stencilled with the contents....

Propane Gas (LPG)
Anhydrous Ammonia
Chlorine
Sodium Hydroxide
Sulfur Dioxide
Hydrochloric Acid
Sulfuric Acid
Carbon Dioxide

And a bunch of others, but those are the most common. There are many, many variations of acids, so occasionaly they will be in placard only cars, but the rest are always going to be stencilled.

The other instance where you almost always see the contents printed on the side of the car is when the car is owned by (Or is leased by) the manfacturer of the product listed. Examples of these cars are Limestone Slurry, Titanium Dioxide, Corn Syrup, etc.

I think I remember hearing something about a hazmat derailment in the nashua area in the early nineties or maybe even eighties, am I imagining that or can someone recall it happening?

Ah good ol Hydrocyanic Acid. Those used to be called "Candy Stripers" on the B&M. Really nasty stuff that they stopped transporting in the 90's.

As previously mentioned, those cars in the pictures are more than likely Sodium Hydroxide aka Caustic Soda, but could also be Chlorine. Both cars are identical looking.

does anyone know why there would be grainers on the hillsborough branch? there was a string of 3-4 grainers and 3-4 boxcars set out on the hillsborough branch right outside of the yard next to the big henry hanger mill building this evening.

The HCN (Hydro-Cyanic Acid) went to WR Grace, later known as Hampshire Chemical at Nashua, NH before closing several years back. The shell of those cars was ridiculously thick steel meant to prevent any leakage in the event of a derailment. That stuff was probably the most poisonous substance shipped by rail in New England.

Wr Grace, the company that had that mess in woburn in the 70's or 80's with kids getting lukemia because somehow arsenic leached into playground soils? That was located in south nashua between the river and daniel webster highway, correct?

Elbow: You sure they were grainers? Hendrix Wire in Milford gets covered hoppers, obviously not grain though. They'll usually be gray.
If they were right outside Nashua yard they might be grain for Budweiser, slightly misplaced for any number of switching reasons. Grainers for Bud are usually more varied in color - yellow CNW paint, blue Golden West Service, various greens and reds, etc.

they looked like white grain hoppers to me, not covered hoppers. It was this evening and they were in the shadows as i was driving by so i could be mistaken. I know the usual CNW grainers you're talking about and they didn't appear to be those, but again my perseption of color might have been off because of the lighting.

Is there currently any sort of signal system on the Northern Main Line between say Nashua and Manchester? I know there is probably nothing on the hillsboro line.

Yes their is a signaling system in place from Nashua Yard to just under the Amoskeg Flyover Bridge in Manchester (Near the Armory)

This is Rule 241 territory

GP40MC 1116 wrote:Yes their is a signaling system in place from Nashua Yard to just under the Amoskeg Flyover Bridge in Manchester (Near the Armory)

This is Rule 241 territory

Not exactly. The Northern Main Line is signalled all the way from CPN-1 in North Chelmsford up to CPN-28 in Manchester going North. The last Northward signal is a Dwarf signal between Depot and Granite street. Going South, the first signal is right after the Amoskeag st overpass. That first southward signal is the distant signal for CPN-28 but due to the number of grade crossings in Manchester, the signal requires permission from the dispatched to pass if red (Rule 241).

From CPN-1 to CPN-28, It's rule 261 territory (Track signalled in both directions). From CPN-28 North, it's DCS territory. There is no such operating rule system as Rule 241 territory. Rule 241 is verbal permission to pass a stop signal.

I knew that detail, but I don't work for the railroad so I wouldn't know the specifics etc. I gave a shot at it at least.