I have a couple questions about some things I recently saw and was hoping someone could tell me what they are.
First question. I saw numbers “62 15” on a the trucks of a CSX engine. Saw this before but with other numbers painted on them. What do these numbers mean/stand for?
Second question. I saw this small pit while getting some pictures the other week (see link at the below). Can someone tell me what it is or what it’s for. I’m guessing it may be used for unloading grain cars but it’s just a guess. http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=152643
How does one go about unloading grain with that pit? Unless there is some sort of conveyer belt that is missing, you aren’t going to be able to unload much grain before the pit is full (and all over the ground, which doesn’t do you much good either![;)]).
Just wondering, have never seen one of those out here in coal country.
There would be a portable conveyor belt in the slot for unloading. Looks likeit hasn’t been used in a long time. I have seen such a setup used for unloading cement; and I’m sure it could be used for most any hopper car commodity.
The pit is a poorly designed receiver for an under track portable auger. If it were on my railroad, the track would be out of service (for at least two reasons)
A broken rail waiting to happen. (If a civil engineer designed that for an industry he needs to lose his license and the railroader who approved the installation needs to find a new job.) Better hope that thing is on FRA “Excepted Track”.
Found one like that on a private siding in northern Ohio, but it might have been a little deeper and had the rail supported by an I beam. Used it to transfer coal from rail car to truck for delivery to a manufacturing plant that had a coal fired boiler for heating.
It didn’t look like it could survive a direct hit from a thermo-nuclear device and so was probably not up to the Mudchicken’s standards. I KNOW, good structural design engineering equals margins! [|)][|)][|)]
Jay: It was supporting the rail - I’d probably accept that. (Rail is not supposed to be used as it’s own structural span support.). What is shown fails to meet AREMA minimum standard and has “issues” with FRA minimum standards…
Also take a look at the left approach. FRA would call that a Code 1 violation ($10,000) as well. (Violates 49CFR103(a&d) and 213.109g…UGLY!
Well maybe they figured out a way to get the hoppers over the pit without rolling an end of the car past the pit. Either that or the pit was used to unload vermiculite from those lightweight all plastic cars.
The rib on engineers comes from an old experience on the IC. Us marketing types were working on a deal to move limestone aggregate to temporary unloading sites for use on the construction of I-55 between Joliet and Springfield. (I-55 is just spitting from the old A&S). The unloading pits would be under existing railroad sidings, so, of course, we went to the engineering department for the design and drawings. They came back just a little over the top. See above post. Hearing our cries of pain, the slide rules came out and in the end, everybody was happy. At least as happy as a group of railroad marketing, operations and engineering people will ever get.
At this very moment, a UP frieght in the hole for Amtrak could be sitting over the buried rements of one of those pits.
Brian…I tried to recognize just where in Somerset this might be but don’t see any familiar buildings in photo background…But perhaps it’s in the Somerset yard south end of town…Only place I’d guess has that many tracks…The concrete space is unnaturally clean…like some activity has taken place lately. That does look weird having the rails support the span…
You are correct. The photo was taken in the Somerset yard - about 1/2 way through the yard. From a distance, I’ve seen grain cars in that area from time to time which is why I guessed it was something used in conjunction with them. Taking the photo was the first time I was ever up close to that location.
Speaking of the Somerset yard. I got a few pics of some brand new hoppers with FURX marking on them sitting under the trestle at the south end of the yard. There was probably about 20-25 of them. The ironic part was the braking systems still had the “WABCO” (Westinghouse Airbrake Company) stamping on them, since WABCO became Wabtec about several years ago. Guess changing the castings used to make these parts isn’t cost effective. Was kind of nice seeing the old WABCO stamp again. My wife worked for them 13 or so years. Good company.
One final note on the S&C. Saw another string of new hoppers on a train waiting at the south end of the S&C at Rockwood. Not sure which way they’ll go once they hit the Keystone Sub. Also saw a work train parked next to the train with the hoppers. Things continue to be business as usual on the S&C.