Dirty Car exteriors

Long Island 7285 wrote:Guys were talking about the world famous New York State MTA. If they actually cleaned the new equipment it would be a miracle. I will not be surprised to see the M7s ran to stuff in a few years; full of duct tape scratchitti advertisement adhesive stuck on the trains, and pen markings drawn on the trains.

So when they want to perchance those well rumored M9s; maybe we the people of New York should put a stop to it till the MTA can prove that they can take care of the new M7’s and keep them clean and not full of filth.

When will we be hearing the commuters’ campaign complaining about “M7 Filth” they have one bout Diesel filth from the old equipment witch was totally a disgrace when it came to cleanliness but it’s still the topic about FILTH on the LIRR. It’s unacceptable.

You are completely missing the point. The M7s are being washed, and yet they look worse then the 30yr old M1s. Believe me I never let a chance to knock the MTA go by, but this time the problem is the product, not the MTA

I thought stainless steel doesn't rust. Are the M7s rusting?

bluebelly wrote: Believe me I never let a chance to knock the MTA go by, but this time the problem is the product, not the MTA

Shouldn't the MTA have inquired about the quality of the steel before purchasing hundreds of these cars? I think we can spin this so it looks like their fault.

I commute via Metro-North daily, and they're doing a great job of keeping the M-7As clean inside and gleaming on the outside. On the other hand, the descriptions here of LIRR's M-7s could well apply to M-N's Bombardier coaches, and then some. I've often wondered why M-N can't keep their coach exteriors as clean as the MUs.

It probably is just dirt. Maybe the M7s need to be powerwashed.

I remember getting a tour of the Otis test facility in Bristol, CT once. They have a few salt spray test chambers. All stainless insides, about the same size/look as those stainless dishwashers so that are popular today.

Anyway, they have to re-line them about once a year - the stainless gets eaten away THAT FAST by the salt spray.

Amazing stuff!

Budd used to use a whole bunch of fun alloys in their rail cars, and they probbably understood stainless steel fabrication better than anyone else at the time (they practically invented the field, and not just railcars.)

FWIW, the top of the Chrysler building isn't stainless, it's Monel. Different beast. At least I've heard it's Monel, and I think it pretty much predates widescale stainless use anyway.

There's lots of varieties of stainless, and yeah, it can rust too. But it's pretty resistant to it.

As was said above, there are different grades of stainless steel. Some are designed to rust.

Jay

i guess this thread can continue to wander.. stainless steel has a small amount of chromium and other trace metals like vandium, nickel, moly, titanium and other elements. My uncle used to own a machine shop and he explained to me once the different grades of aluminium. I'm sure (as Jay states) that there are different grades of stainless too. This is a government job, what do you expect... I think that in today's day in age that Bombardier prob got their supplier on the cheapest bid..

Perhaps they are washing them too much.. nahh

http://chemistry.about.com/cs/metalsand ... 71201a.htm

Okay,
Let's go back to the very beginning, please.

First, Let's ask Dutch Railnut if MN is having any problems keeping the exteriors of the exact same cars clean. Dutch, your two cents on this, please?

Second, it is not disputed that 2 LIRR car washes are OOS. Hopefully, things will get better when those are operable. That is, provided the dreaded threatened washing cutbacks do not take effect the day the car washes are fixed.

Third, it is interesting to note that Bluebelly has seen M-7 cars go through the wash in Advance Yard, but come out looking poorly, anyway. The few cars that are being washed are not being done worth a damn.

Fourth, many M-7 cars that I have seen with lower numbers have smily faces and whatnot drawn in the layer of filth on the window exteriors.
So, even buying the explanation that the cars are being washed, but the metal is not coming clean, how to explain the layer of crud on the windows?

I have been on vacation this week, but I guess I'm going to have to perform an experiment when I go back to the cesspool known as HMC.
I'm going to have to try to clean a small area of a filthy M-7 car, and see how hard it is to get it clean. I already know the side windows will come clean easily, using a rag and the ordinary ubiquitous blue windshield cleaner. We'll see what happens with the Stainless.

IMHO, the RR should expedite getting all car washes back online, do whatever one-time cleaning is necessary to restore the M-7s to a reasonable appearance, then go back to routine washing.
Is car washing really a budget-buster? Especially if it can be proven or at least theorized that the metal will last longer if you keep all the crap buildup off it, and it is not only aesthetics at stake. The argument could be made to not completely eliminate exterior washing.

Tom

P.S. Why does the [older] C-3 fleet of the same railroad not look horrible? Just a thought....

Where is Advance car wash? Thanks.

Tom -- I warned you about Hillside...

Bellstbarn -- The Advance Yard is next to the Receiving Yard just west of Jamaica and east of Richmond Hill and north of Morris Park Shops. It was designed for making up diesel houled trains when much of the Railroad used them. There's a car wash on the south side of the yard, next to the Montauk Branch. "Ancient" best describes the 1950-vintage wash.

Clemuel

Clemuel wrote:"Ancient" best describes the 1950-vintage wash.

Strange how the "ancient" one is the only one still in working condition??

http://www.railquip.com/Pages/prod05.htm

. . . . . .

Strange how the "ancient" one is the only one still in working condition??

How true! I was thinking the same thing.
In the case of the Babylon wash, I have heard that one phase is "missing" from the 3 phase power feed to the wash. LIPA is apparently blaming the RR and/or the contractors working on the new substation, and wants to bill the LIRR to run new lines. So, around and around it goes. Nothing gets done.
The RR is probably waiting for Home Depot to run a sale on 16 gauge, 100' orange extension cords. At that time they'll buy a few hundred of them and run them from the new substation over to the wash, "modifying" them and using the green wire for the third phase.

Tom

Amtrak has a lot more Dirty Cars then LIRR.