Recently I have noticed “C Plate” on the sides of BNSF grain cars. What does this signify?
Near the BNSF yard at Temple, TX, there are a number of boxes along trackside marked “Shunting”. What does this mean?
Most of the tank cars that I see are black or gray. Recently, I have been seeing a lot of white tank cars. Some were marked “test”. What does the difference mean?
The railroads have various standardized Clearance Plates.
Plate B - you won’t see it identified on cars, as I think, that plate defines the limits of cars the can be used in unrestricted service ANYWHERE on the US rail network.
Plate C - is nominally higher (wider/longer) than Plate B and will impact things if operated at a location that only clears Plate B
There are increasingly larger plates up to Plate H, which I think, defines loaded 20’2" Double staks as well as 20’2" autoracks.
The Plates are defined in the Official Equipment Register (as well as it’s on line version). UMLER records also have a byte for the Plate of the car.
Here is a diagram that shows all the plate dimensions together in one place for comparison. See also this thread on plate diagrams in the MR forum a week or so ago:
Simply put, it’s a cross-sectional clearance outline. Most “standard” modern boxcars and hopper cars fall into Plate C; flatcars and gondolas will mostly fall under Plate B. Plate F applies to excess height boxcars, (loaded) double stack container cars are Plate H.
Generally not much other than the colour the owner decided to paint it.
Hi, I also thought color choice of a tank car was influenced by usual load…black if it flowed a little bit better with a little heat from the sun. White if the contents might vent if heated.
That’s what insulation and steam heating coils are for.
Sulfur tank cars are equipped with insulation and steam coils. Most of the sulfur tank cars that I’ve seen are painted black with yellow camouflage to hide the spills at the center of the car.
