Oil Trains (RJMA / MARJ, OI-x, etc)

2nd one spotted. 2 in 2 days?

While not a dedicated "oil train" per se, I spotted Pan Am/CSXT Train SEPO moving off of the Worcester Main to the Fitchburg Line yesterday in Ayer, MA (8/12). Besides the usual consist of boxes, yesterday's edition of SEPO had at least 15-20 brand new TGOX tank cars which were placarded UN 1267 (crude oil). I wonder if Irving is getting tanks in small quantities such as what I observed yesterday in addition to the dedicated unit trains.

-Mike

Mikejf wrote:Back to the use of pushers. I have always thought that the pushers were used not only for added power, but to ease the stresses on the equipment and the track. Is this correct?

On Pan Am (other railroad's numbers vary) the maximum amount of online axles on the head end of the train is 24. So that's 6 4 axles. AC engines count as 9, but not an issue for up there really. However in some cases due to track topology (or train make up) it is better for train handling to distribute the power like you said to ease stresses. Usually there would be one extra unit on the front vs the rear (4 front, 3 back,) etc.

rovetherr wrote:edit-I think. It could just be ethanol, but I seem to remember reading somewhere, the Times Union perhaps, that they were also shipping crude.

Can't speak for crude, but the MT Afrodite took on a load of fuel oil at Buckeye on 8/1.

http://www.portofalbany.us/images/pdf/S ... 1%2013.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The second LOT with BNSF 5682 slowly making its way through Auburn now

""I don't know anything about trains," said one woman who lived nearby, "other than the fact that they annoy me when they go by in the middle of the night.""

http://www.sunjournal.com/news/lewiston ... rn/1414675" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Dont these people have jobs? Or a life? !!! Give me a break!

I think one of the posts below the article says it best.....( not to negate what happened in Canada it is very tragic and steps need to be taken to prevent it from occurring again...and so far the FRA is reconstructing its rules for hazardous materials handling) But its as if hazardous materials are a new thing...chlorine gas,hydrochloric acid, its all hauled by rail nothing new they are just as dangerous as the oil.

JB283 wrote:Dont these people have jobs? Or a life? !!! Give me a break!

Surprised it was as peaceful as it was. In California the Earth First crowd loved to bury spike laden ties, or create obstacles in the dark highway underpass tunnels of the Barstow to Vegas off-road motorcycle race. No quiet protests, they were all about mayhem to protect some turtle that it turned out was rarely in the area of the bike race in the first place.

From the Bangor Daily News:

Bangor Daily News wrote:Maine’s sole railway hauling crude oil through Maine will review its safety protocols in response to news that the tankers that exploded in Quebec in July, killing 47 people, were mislabeled, the company’s senior vice president said Thursday.

Pan Am Railways workers check the manifests, bills of lading, and placards and also conduct visual inspections of cars carrying hazardous materials like those that destroyed the center of Lac-Megantic on July 6, Cynthia Scarano, senior vice president of the company, said.

In the visual inspection, “we are looking for physical defects, anything that seems wrong with a tanker,” Scarano said Thursday.
. . .
Railway workers accept tankers and their contents from the oilfields or other customers ready for shipping, as they do with most any other product, Scarano said.

“We don’t have the ability to check the contents of a tanker,” Scarano said Thursday.

Expecting a railway company to test the contents of a tanker for its flammability would be like asking beer-truck drivers to test ales for their alcohol content, she said.

Still, Pan Am officials will review the latest reports to see whether their procedures can be tightened.

Read more at: http://bangordailynews.com/2013/09/12/b ... crude-oil/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

An empty oil train that has been parked in Yarmouth for over a month is proving problematic for a local farmer:

The Portland Press Herald wrote:Bruce Hincks couldn't figure out why they invaded – until he thought about the train cars.

Nothing, it seemed, could prevent the horde of deer from infiltrating his 15-acre Meadowood Farm, where they have chewed through 4,000 heads of lettuce this summer – an unprecedented crop loss for the small operation.

The deer that live in the woods north of his property on Beckwith Street usually cross the nearby Pan Am Railways tracks and feast in a hayfield on the other side. For at least the last month, though, a line of about 100 oil tank cars on the tracks has blocked their path, Hincks believes.

The losses are mounting, he said, up to $10,000 worth of ruined plants.
. . .
A Maine Warden Service spokesman lent some credence to the idea that a long, stationary train could affect wildlife.

"In general, deer cannot cross underneath or in between rail cars," said John MacDonald, spokesman for the warden service.

The string of about 100 tankers, stretching about a mile from the area of Greely Road north, is long enough to prevent the natural movement of deer.

Read more at: http://www.pressherald.com/news/invadin ... 09-19.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I am skeptical that deer cannot jump over the drawbars. That said, if this is indeed the case it is a downright shame and I hope the RR can stuff the cars somewhere else.

Problem solved. Have Pan Am break the train apart every 10 cars, leaving a 50' spacing in between each 10 car sets. This will allow the deer to have access to both sides of the tracks.

Does no one seem to recall that PAR has been storing cars there for years? 50 footers, heavies, TBOXes FBOXes and now tanks have all had a home there. This is nothing new... so why all of a sudden are deer attacking this crop? It's not the RR. Maybe there is a new and larger population of deer in the area?

CN9634 wrote:Does no one seem to recall that PAR has been storing cars there for years? 50 footers, heavies, TBOXes FBOXes and now tanks have all had a home there. This is nothing new... so why all of a sudden are deer attacking this crop? It's not the RR. Maybe there is a new and larger population of deer in the area?

Or somebody's building in the area forcing more of them to feed by the tracks. That's New England suburbia...creeping sprawl forces the wildlife on the move and they end up clustering around populated areas. I can absolutely believe that's a problem that wouldn't have happened 5 years ago if there's been any new development in the area. Much like Massachusetts' current suburban wild turkey invasion giving Amtrak's AEM-7's an assist towards their imminent retirement.