Hey all, did a little train watching this evening and saw something that was a little odd (at least to me). A CSX ballast train (all orange, MOW-style side discharge ballast cars, loaded), came through town (Troy, AL) headed southbound. Now whilst that isn’t all that uncommon, what caught my eye is that each of the cars had what looked to be solar panels strapped to each side and to the front and rear upper lips of the cars. I didn’t see any other added equipment to the cars, but I did see the solar panels. If anyone could help me out on this one, it would be great. I couldn’t figure out what they’d be needed for, so I figured that I’d ask the people who would know.
The solar panels provide power to operate the dump doors, this means that a track worker doesn’t have to operate the doors manually by walking alongside the car as it is being dumped. This is deemed very hazardous because the rock dust can cause silicosis, a lung disease. Some cars are even set up with computerized controls to dump based on GPS positioning.