What must be months or even years ago I saw a train with a solid load of a specific item, I wondered what it was and someone who may or may not know what he is talking about told me what this train was.
Recently I saw this train loaded in the same manner again. It was moving in broad daylight, but I don’t know if the government or the railroad would want the information out on a forum for security reasons…although from what I’ve heard perhaps stuff like this is already posted on other forums.
Anyway, I am curious to know for sure what this load is, but if I describe what I saw then it will be obvious where and when and on who’s railroad I saw it on. I’m still new to the forum, this is the first forum (of any kind) I’ve been on and I don’t want to post something that is quite frowned upon…but on the other hand it would be nice to know just what was going down the tracks.
Whew…first the DSL went down (again!) and then I’ve actually been busy here at work. Now I am going to take my “lunch break” and tell you what it was I saw.
Behind the locomotives were a few cars that have been referred to as “buffer cars” to protect the crew should something happen. Then most of the rest of the train was what appeared (from a distance) to be a single stack container train except all the containers were the same color and how often do you see a train of solid containers but none double-stacked?
When I got alongside the train all the containers were painted a tan color and said property of the U.S. government on them along with a hazmat placard that I could not distinguish. (Train was going one way, I was driving the other way)
When I have seen this train before, a fellow railfan explained to me that the whole train was a shipment of explosives or dynamite. There was one gondola car about two cars from the end of the train also. I just wondered if there was such a thing as a train full of dynamite…and in this day and age if it would not be protected in some manner, or is it less dangerous than a train of lpg tank cars?
I’m guessing it’s bullets/bombs/other explosive ordnance. If it’s anything stronger, I don’t want to know. Not a good train to be near (like, within 5 miles) if it derails.
Well. Hazmat placards are well known to certain people involved in various professions that need to know this information.
Explosives are usually Orange with identifying information related to type. Certain explosives or products that are capable of detonating are just simply banned from being moved in any mode.
There is a Ordinance Facility to the west between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean that train might be carrying stuff for use in war. Who knows? The only people who probably knows are those specifically hands on with that move.
One thing I recall from the East Coast is LNG ships and I am glad we dont have those in Arkansas. Our gas should come in on several pipelines from the Gulf.
I think the container is kept one to a car because the car itself protects the door mechanism and locks from access by anyone. Count me out if Im wrong but I dont know of anyone capable of lifting one end of a 30 ton box to get inside.
I agree there are probably Agents of the United States following that train or otherwise very capable of responding to a problem on such a train. I prefer to look at them as special trains that have good “TLC” and dont expect problems.
The only thing I probably will not be able to do is post such a train should I catch one online. I am thinking it would not be worth the attention it might get.
Where I am we get alot of trains carrying all kinds of stuff. Take Chorine gas for example. Someone lights that off it could kill thousands in right situations. Railroading is dangerous business. Be safe out there!
To answer Ed’s question, yes I believe the placards were orange. Tried to see a # on the placard but could not. I was told a long time ago that this was an explosives train…and I will try to be delicate here…but the guy who told me that sometimes has one of those “know-it-all” reputations and I’ve always wondered if he made a correct statement. I live and work very near the tracks, so that’s why I was curious as to the load. But like I mentioned before, with everything else that comes up from the chemical coast I’m sure this is no big deal. Seemed an odd way to carry that much ordinance, but safer than on the highway I suppose.
Most likely, from your description, ordinance. Been shipped by rail for years. Been one or two interesting ‘events’, too – but they’re very very rare (I can recall only two… both, oddly, related to a sticking brake). This stuff is actually a good deal safer to transport than a lot of the things on the highways and rails… I’d much rather have a wreck with one of those than with, say, a few cars of LPG or Chlorine!
Mind you now, I wouldn’t want a wreck with any train!
Ha Ha Poppa…no I did not see any black helicopters following the train. I have not seen any black helicopters since I saw a whole herd of 'em land at Mena and drop off a bunch of aliens that ran into the side of a CSX train somewhere in Kentucky.
OK so I guess this is a fairly common way to ship ordinance. This was only the second time I had seen this type of train. Used to be a reporter so the tendency to ask questions is still there.
Keep in mind that if they are, say, missiles, or missile ordinance, then the detonators are not installed, but riding separate, most of the time in a separate shipment.
If it is shells, or gun ordinance, the odds of anything happening to it are small, and the shipment is tracked and guarded.
Single containers in well cars are hard to tip over, and if they do derail, they tend to ride upright.
The containers for explosives are pretty stout also.
From the outside, they appear to be standard containers, but are braced and have additional plates inside.
No big security deal here, this stuff rides by rail all the time.
You face more danger from a LPG tankcar having a BLEVE, (Boiling Liquid Escaping Vapor Explosion) that this stuff going bang.
That means you have explosives that are sensitive to viberation, shock and flame.
I hardly ever see 1a class on the road, but if there were, they would be segregated in different containers in any amount.
If I recall my hazmat training as of 2000 any incident involving explosives requires evac of 5 miles radius, line of sight (Across a valley for example) at a minimum.
It’s probably ordiance of some type. There were most likely security people shadowing the train. I moved some tanks once, and there was a black Suburban at every road crossing. Even ordinary stuff like trucks and hummers are routinly watched.
