taking the trash out!

Freight cars carry lots of items - well now there’s a statement if ever I made one!

What happens when they get messy on the inside? Whose Mom gets to clean them up? If they are a little more than dusty, do you b/o the car and a crew has to sanitize them? Or is everyone just really careful and they never get dirty on the inside?

Jen

they’re supposed to get inspected and cleaned at the yard before they go to the cust…
YEAH RIGHT!!!

sounds like they aren’t going to pass the Good Houskeeping seal of approval!

not at all sweety

The people who unload the cars (particularly “clean-loading” box cars) are supposed to remove all dunnage, waste, etc. Our crews are not supposed to accept cars that aren’t cleaned, and the industry will be charged demurrage until they are cleaned.

At least, that’s the way it’s supposed to work.

I knew a brakeman once who “cleaned out” the cars himself. Over the years he got enough lumber to build himself a house! He did nothing illegal, and was doing the railroad a favor.

Back in my high school days, I worked one summer for the Oakie Co., who cleaned boxcars in the C&NW yard in N. Fond du Lac, WI.[:D]
This was the summer of 77, when the Northwestern was using boxcars to haul grain. I was assigned to sweep all the left over grain out, and then hose out the cars. Occasionally, I would work the “sewer”, where all the waste water was collected, cleaning the grates and filters.[xx(]
This is as close to working for the RR that I’ve gotten.[;)]

In Fort Collins, Colorado The BNSF hires a contractor to clean out cars before they are delivered to Budwiser.
David

As stated above it is usually the customer’s responsibility to clean out the car upon unloading. Not only does this extend to boxcars, but also to tank cars. As you can imagine there are special skills and equipment that must be used to clean out such cars. There are specialized contractors who will do this work and also many companies, especially those dealing with haz mat have their own in house capability in this area.

LC

Freight cars carry lots of items - well now there’s a statement if ever I made one!

What happens when they get messy on the inside? Whose Mom gets to clean them up? If they are a little more than dusty, do you b/o the car and a crew has to sanitize them? Or is everyone just really careful and they never get dirty on the inside?

Jen

they’re supposed to get inspected and cleaned at the yard before they go to the cust…
YEAH RIGHT!!!

sounds like they aren’t going to pass the Good Houskeeping seal of approval!

not at all sweety

The people who unload the cars (particularly “clean-loading” box cars) are supposed to remove all dunnage, waste, etc. Our crews are not supposed to accept cars that aren’t cleaned, and the industry will be charged demurrage until they are cleaned.

At least, that’s the way it’s supposed to work.

I knew a brakeman once who “cleaned out” the cars himself. Over the years he got enough lumber to build himself a house! He did nothing illegal, and was doing the railroad a favor.

Back in my high school days, I worked one summer for the Oakie Co., who cleaned boxcars in the C&NW yard in N. Fond du Lac, WI.[:D]
This was the summer of 77, when the Northwestern was using boxcars to haul grain. I was assigned to sweep all the left over grain out, and then hose out the cars. Occasionally, I would work the “sewer”, where all the waste water was collected, cleaning the grates and filters.[xx(]
This is as close to working for the RR that I’ve gotten.[;)]

In Fort Collins, Colorado The BNSF hires a contractor to clean out cars before they are delivered to Budwiser.
David

As stated above it is usually the customer’s responsibility to clean out the car upon unloading. Not only does this extend to boxcars, but also to tank cars. As you can imagine there are special skills and equipment that must be used to clean out such cars. There are specialized contractors who will do this work and also many companies, especially those dealing with haz mat have their own in house capability in this area.

LC