Eastbound Friday 15 July 2005

Through Warwick, at 12:05 P.M.:

CEFX 3148
CSX 8608
NYSW 3016
NYSW 3012

Another monster train, about 90% trash cars.

Here's a question for those that have observed the actual trash trains. What's the general experience like when a trash train rolls by? Stinky, noisy, lots of bugs buzzing along, gooey noxious liquids draining out?

I'm curious as to exactly what the NIMBYs are shaking in their boots about when they start blowing a warning whistle against those dreaded trash trains that might roll through their area.

They really don't smell, but a lot of the NYSW cars are loaded over the tops of the cars. There is a plastic netting that is put on top, but some of this material must fall out in transit, maybe in someone's yard. The NYSW loader at the Resources property, receives materials 24 hours a day. They do not appear to be concerned as to what is being dumped there. I worked for Resources and watched the operation on a daily basis. The cars are supposedly weighed, but they "sound" different when they are going by, maybe because they are overloaded. What weighs more? A loaded jumbo Southern hopper loaded with wood chips or construction debris? Then again, the NIMBYS seem to be concerned about the containerized trash, which is totally self-contained.

Yep,
That was the Q403 that went through Rochester Thursday afternoon. It only had the CEFX 3148 and the 8608 (SD50) at the time.

They do smell but not as bad as some people have made them out to be. I would say they smell just like a garbage truck.

You may have an opportunity to check it out yourself.

This is from the cbs880 site

BOGOTA, N.J. (AP) A freight train derailed near River Road and Cross Street in Bogota at about 11:30 a.m. Sunday, strewing construction debris near an access road but causing no injuries, police said.

Two freight cars that had been stacked one on top of the other were overturned, spilling construction debris. Auto traffic was not affected and no hazardous materials were involved, police said.

NJ Vike wrote:They do smell but not as bad as some people have made them out to be. I would say they smell just like a garbage truck.

yes, a several thousand foot long garbage truck

if you are downwind and the train is going at less than track speed, you are going to want to leave the area...

At least you don't have to drive next to them on the highway, as you would a municipal waste truck. That is quite a plus, and part of their appeal.

CJPat wrote: What's the general experience like when a trash train rolls by? Stinky, noisy, lots of bugs buzzing along, gooey noxious liquids draining out?

Nothing of the sort. A mild unpleasant odor (stronger in humid weather) but nothing more dire. Far cleaner on the outside than municipal waste trucks, too.

The construction debris cars dont smell much at all. Its the epic trash containers usually found on the SU404 that you gotta back away from...those bad boys smell!

The EPIC containers on Q-300 and Q-301 are much worse as they haul processed human waste out of Brills to somewhere down south to make fertilizer. In temparatures like we have had the last few days they get REALLY bad. It kinda like opening a septic tank and sticking your head in to get a good sniff. A couple of years ago I was hanging out at Roselle Park on a very warm, sultry night when the Q-301 passed by. The stench was so bad that passengers on both the platform and the parking lot were holding their noses and the stench remained for quite some time after the train passed!!

trainfreak wrote:The construction debris cars dont smell much at all. Its the epic trash containers usually found on the SU404 that you gotta back away from...those bad boys smell!