I have often read that TOFC cars are not humped.
Yet I have several videos showing TOFC cars being humped.
Is humping TOFC cars an individual yard decision ?
Usually, it’s company policy.
Since when is humping an issue? TOFC today is basically A to B unit trains!
A while back the Port of Lewiston ID and BN/BNSF had an arrangement where one 5-pack double stack car ran from Lewiston to Seattle via the BN/BNSF local to Pasco, then was humped at Pasco and added to an appropriate Pasco-Seattle train via the Gorge route. The main customer being served by this arrangement was the local paper mill which ships paper products to Asia.
The problem was in the hump yard, where the product in the containers would become damaged during the typical yard shunting. After a few years, the customer bailed out and decided to ship all their containers by either barge to Portland or truck to Seattle, although they also experimented with shipping the product in boxcars to Seattle wherein the product was transloaded to containers.
This is an atypical case, granted, but couldn’t the railroad have simply set out the 5-pack at a siding in Pasco and let the yard crew directly handle it to attach it to the Seattle-bound consists?
Federal Hazmat regulations prohibit humping of any placarded intermodal equipment, which overarches carrier or facility restrictions.
Something to remember here is that an IM shipment can be more like a manifest shipment to a rail carrier. Carrier transportation service plans are usually designed to operate intermodal trains from IM facilities and not necessarily on a large scale pick up and set out basis (much like coal or grain unit trains). Terminal capacity is a major consideration for all carriers with the present business level, so that extra move to make a pick up or set out could become a capacity constraint. Thus, “stray” IM shipments often are handled just like manifest traffic when it comes to classification and train selection.
Okay, I’m a wise guy, but I’d rather not hump a “can” or a “pig”!
Maybe I would understand if I knew what TOFC stood for.
(semi) Trailer on Flat Car
And mildly funny, too, but I digress - I think they do hump cars with say soybean oil, something that I don’t think needs a placard. Or am I wrong in my thinking? I’m sure someone will set me straight.
Mook
But if my girlfriend saw that I had videos with humping in them she’d be a little pissed off. [swg]
Just don’t do what the BNSF did in Memphis about 2 years ago. They humped a TOFC cars that was originally a 5 pack and derailed and was now only a three pack with no coupler or anything on the one end, just wheels. Anyways the helper did not notice the problem and humped the car and derailed the TOFC car and about 3 others in the bowl. Nice job guys.