Has anyone noticed that some of the 33,000 gallon, high pressure tankcars have the handrails for the catwalk on the inside. The only reason I can think of for doing something as bizarre as this is that it costs less. However, I cannot think of a reason why it would cost less. Does anyone know why it was done? By the way, it appears that only GATX/TRG did this on cars they built in the early 1980s and early 1990s.
It does seem strange. Maybe somebody reversed the plans.
It might be to keep the cars inside the clearance diagrams.
I think I figured out how the inside handrails are cheaper. As you all probably know the dome has a platform and railing around it. If the rails along the walkway are inside of it, that means that they can terminate the platform rails at the walkway rails and eliminate two of the verticle runs on the platform. I guess the shippers did not like it (probably increase workers compensation premiums), that is probably why those cars are fairly rare.