I hope the newer tank cars that are being phased are not just scrapped, but are mined for still serviceable trucks and air-brake equipment, with bodies sold for storage tanks. Should be more valuable than just scrap.
Only if there is a demand.
In all my years in the oil fields, I only remember one operator who used old tank car bodies for storage, and that was for salt water at a brine disposal well. It was a poor-boy operation, and even then I never saw the experiment repeated. I would guess they would not fit API standards for field crude stock tanks. Standard crude stock tanks are vertical, with large clean out ports at the base, for the bottom sediment that inevitably builds up during well production. They also lack the usual pipe connections of a stock tank.
More likely the ends get cut off and the tank becomes a farm culvert or temporary construction culvert. PLS remember there are safety issues with the liner and torch cutting.The demand for high quality steel will recycle most of the cars quickly.
Mudchicken;. Is pretty much on-target about the reclamation/repurposing of rail rank cars into other uses. When one gets into the “Storage Tank” arena of re-use; one begins to take on a whole army of Regulators, who will swarm you like ants at a picnic.
Not only Local areas of jurisdiction, but an over-arching army of Federal Regulatory Personnel, who can either be very helpful or not. Many of those types, control the conversations by first telling the offenders what Regulations they have violated, followed quickly by How much the potential fines can or will be. for those violations.
One who has gotten into a position of Regulatory ‘violation’, becomes very familiar with the position of one who has been staked out over an ant hill. You very quickly become familiar with the language of the Governmental Regulatory Bureaucracy, and its myriad alphabetical acronyms (ie: UST,LUST,EPA, DNR… etc. ) to the point of insanity. Not to mention being threatened at every stop by some new punitive action…
Then there is the wave of folks who make a living in the ‘mitigation of violation’ trades, and the lawyers who deal with the government regulators,(and offer to negotiate in your behalf ) for reduction of fines. ( of course, for a fee [:-,] )
In the end you wish that “someone” had just had the darn things cut up, and scrapped…Your ‘cheap fix’ has cost you dearly in time, money,and sanity while trying to save some bucks… &n
I could have the largest BBQ/Smoker in the neighborhood!! [:D]
Somehow I don’t think ‘Bakken Crude flavored pulled pork’ would be a selling point![;)]
Serve it up with some moonshine and no one will notice the difference.
Moonshine will have to preceed the entrée (in mass quantities).
We can call it North Dakota Style BBQ!!
When they convert old propane tanks to smokers they make a nice fire with some oak logs to get the smell from the ethyl mercaptan out of the tank.
I am sure there are some enterprising rednecks, I mean Southern Engineers, around me that could figure this out after the third or fourth try!!
Remember - Safety Third!!
Well, it was for Railway Man’s “Diesel Fried Chicken” highway sign avatar ! (about 5 years ago) [swg]