Fire training cars (?) in Middlesex on Port Reading

[red92s]

I think these are MCVX cars for fire training. They've been sitting down here for a bit. Please pardon the horrendous phone camera from a moving
car picture. This Bakelite factory must've been something else at full song, model railroaders dream, with diamonds a head shunt and lots of
switches.



<a href="http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... 3015219</a>

[TAMR213]

Help you out with the link:
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=3015219

And yes, the Union Carbide plant used to be abuzz with rail activity, contracted out to the BRW. Its sad to see the state of decline that manufacturing in Middlesex County has taken the past few years...

[umtrr-author]

It certainly does look like an MCVX car. Micro-Trains did a model of MVCX 72223 in N Scale in September 2009. Here's an edited version of what I wrote about it then for my Unofficial Micro-Trains Release Report:

Found in Springfield, Massachusetts, photographed and posted to RailcarPhotos.com is the unusual prototype for this colorful MTL release. This is just one of several "Safety Train" tank cars, boxcars and cabooses, all painted with considerable distinction and all with MCVX reporting marks. For example, there's an X58 class Conrail exterior post plugdoor boxcar now carrying a CSX "Hazardous Material System" placard along with a "Conrail HazMat" placard and a "Firefighters' Safety Train" placard. And there's a short tank car in yellow and dark blue with large "Safety Training Car" lettering. There's even another tank car painted in a similar manner to the one that Micro-Trains depicts this month.

That "Firefighters' Safety Train" logo is quite important, actually, and it points to the actual registration of these cars. The October 2007 Official Railway Equipment Register shows the MCVX reporting marks assigned to The Firefighters Education and Training Foundation. There is scant little on the net for the exact phrase "Firefighters Education and Training Foundation" but we do learn that it's based in Springfield, Massachusetts where the bulk of the photos were taken.

Unless you go to the Safety Train's own website ( http://www.thesafetytrain.org , not all pages available), that is! There's a short history of the effort which began in 1994 in Massachusetts when two hundred firefighters participated in a training exercise featuring a simulated train wreck. "The real benefits of this elaborate exercise were not achieved. The emergency responders never learned how to identify different types of tank cars, their markings and their mechanical workings." So the idea of a dedicated "Safety Train" was born. Starting with three donated tank cars, there are now five Safety Trains which travel the country, including one consisting of passenger cars.

There are several MCVX tank cars on RailcarPhotos.com (search on the reporting marks). It looks like they all have red ends so I'm not sure exactly which one is in the OP's photo.

[Mike77E9]

The Dow Safety Train is here in town at Dow Chemical in Middlesex (Also known as the Bound Brook plant). They are running several training sessions for the area's emergency responders Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. This evening, I had the chance to tour the train during our Hazards Management meeting which was held in one of the classroom cars. I took some photos of the train, however, they didn't come out all that good due to where they decided to tie the train down, and trees and other equipment in the way. Link is below, enjoy! All photos taken with permission:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 131&type=3

[umtrr-author]

And sure enough, one of the tank cars is the 72223 that Micro-Trains depicted. (The MTL model isn't an exact match to the prototype.)

Thanks for the photos!