Covered coal hoppers?

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

I was trainwatching in North Kansas City, MO tonight and saw a very odd looking unit train pull through towards the old ASB bridge. The cars were all BNSF 110-ton open hopper cars that normally haul coal. These hoppers had been retrofitted with an aluminum or steel structure that housed a red tarp that completed covered the top of the hopper. Other than the tarp they appeared to be stock hopper cars. I am curious why this was done or what might have been in the cars? There was nothing visible on top of the hoppers and overall they were very clean.

Thanks for any information someone could provide.

Chris [:)]

2

Could it be a device to contol flying coal dust ,-- here in BC the CPR sprays a substance over the coal so that the residents living near the tracks don’t complain about coal dust hanging in the air after the passage of the train. Just a thought , maybe someone else has a further explanation!!

3

Very Interesting. Could be the dust issue, or possibly another commodity that needs to be kept dry.

At one point in the 1970’s, the IC had built fiber glass covers for coal hoppers to augment the covered hopper fleet in grain service. (Needless to say they wern’t used for grain for human consumption, but even with that the car interiors had been thoroughly cleaned).

4

Since it’s after midnight, maybe IT’S A GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACY TO KEEP US FROM SEEING WHAT’S INSIDE…

5

Chessie System and Conrail also used the fiber glass covers for grain shipments in coal hoppers.

6

Whatever they were carrying, the tarp was obviously there to keep out the elements.

Never heard of a tarp being used though, as mvlandsw was saying I too usually see fiberglass covers on the tops of hoppers, not tarps. [?]

7

I work at a grain elevator,we used to receive hopper cars of grain that were covered with plastic tarps.They were mainly used due to shortages of covered hoppers. Joe G.

8

[8D]The train was probaly carring oil dry from the UFO stop in KCMO
lots of leaking UFO"S round there seen one with an alien bumper sticker couldnt translate it but it probaly says my UFO dont leak its marking its territory
or maybe MY OTHER CAR IS A UFO NEED A LIFT
my thought on alien bumper sticker are ussually rite it might say( my alien kid is an
honor student at JUPITER ELEMENTARY)

alien bumper sticker
#^%$%@%&^$#^&%$%^%#^#(((>><<<>>?‘’/.?'.>".??,/>?,/,?<./,?,/.,///++±–-/-/-+_((%&$$@$#^%$#%^$$!&^&$~~~~``<>?/.,?>,(&^%`~*//-)-_-)(&^%$#@#@
translation DONT LAUGH YOUR DAUGHTER MIGHT BE IN THE BACK SEAT!!!
[alien][X-)][:-^][:P][:)][8D][:D][alien]

9

If I am correct it’s neither. I have seen these cars several times, but with a white cover. Someone told me a few years back what they mainly carry, but I can’t rememeber…I’ll keep thinking and if I remember I’ll post it. (I have a photo of them that I took about a week ago, if only that would help.)

10

Could be contaminated soil. The UP also has hoppers with fiberglass covers used for this purpose. Small shipments sometimes run in regular manifests, but there also are unit train shipments. These usually get called the “dirty dirt” trains.
If I remember correctly, there is some company in Utah that receives this stuff.

11

These are the cars that i’m talking about. That may be what the man told me, but he also told me a grain of some kind I believe. They are like something you would see on a gondola or something.

12

The BNSF does run a unit train of corn bran from Eddyville Iowa to the feed lots near Dalhart Texas, where they run the cars through a rotary dumper to empty the cars, that is why there is a roll tarp on the top of the car to allow for fast unloading. I believe they do this for Cargill.

13

Where is Scully and Moulder when you need them!?[8D]

14

John Kneilling thought coal cars needed to be covered. Sure, coal is coal and doesn’t need protection from the elements, but if water gets in and freezes, you have a hard time unloading the coal short of starting a bonfire against the car, and a coal-service hopper sure takes a beating when it is treated that way.

15

Actually spraying a little anti-freeze on the coal does the trick a little cheaper. But, someone forgets the anti-freeze on a shipment going to Iowa during the February thaw, an inch of rain, and the cold weather comes back. Those heaters might just as well try to thaw granite.

Or you could send the loads to Florida for spring break.

16

I seem to recall that petroleum coke produces quite a bit of dust. It ssems like it is required to be sprayed with oil when being transported. Could it be an unit train of petroleum coke and they were experimenting with covering the cars instead of spraying oil into the coke?

Also, I have occasionally seen a GCCX open top hopper cars that have been modified by adding a roof. Has anyone heard of these before?

17

The hoppers are hauling grain, i have been told so by bnsf employess[:D]

18

This scheme was used a lot in the 70s during bumper grain crops. They loaded grain into anything they could find.