I see tanks on a platform next to tracks where a switch is .Are they for propane?
Probably fuel for switch heaters.
Thanks
Gee, I’m disappointed. When someone named “Rambo” asked about tanks next to tracks I was expecting something like this…
There was an article about a military tank struck by a train in PA in one of the railfan magazines not long ago. Not a good outcome for either the tank or the train.
Yeah good point! Best be careful how you answer a guy named Rambo2…
" It’s not fuel, it’s a water cooler for the crews"
If the tank is on a raised platform the area is most likely a flood plain with the tracks subject to being flooded.
As I was growing up, Rambo was my best friend–his mother’s family name was Rambo, and he was named for her.
Right, it was either in the last issue of “Classic Trains” or the one before that. I don’t remember all the particulars but it was a National Guard M-4 Sherman hit at a grade crossing. They didn’t “Stop, look, and listen.”
There were five men in the tank crew, three were killed, two badly injured if I remember correctly. The locomotive was damaged but no-one on the train was killed.
Deep snow might be the reason rather than flooding. Or it could just be the design flavor of whoever in the track department was responsible for the design or installation.
Allowing any type of tank storage near main tracks has some risks. In the 1980’s a railroad leased a portion of its Station Grounds to a RR customer (a very comon occurance) who happened to be a supplier of ammonia to local farmers. This customer established a large storage tank too near the main line and it happened that there was a minor derailment at this location. One of the derailed cars ruptured this tank with the result that a large amount of ammonia was released at a location where there were several people who were overcome. Fortunately there no serious or permanent injuties.
A bit like this T-64 in the DDR of the late '80s:
I guess the DDR’s National Volksarmee wasn’t like the old Wehrmacht…
“You VILL schtop at der railroad krossing, und you VILL look und lissen!”
In my area, switch heaters that are in accessible locations are connected to the municipal natural gas system. Only the ones in outlying locations have propane tanks.
The section forces in my area use a truck to fill the tanks, as nearly all are accessible by road.
I can’t find it right now, but I recall seen a photo of a Brandt truck pulling a single tank car somewhere in northern Ontario, stopping at each switch to fill the tank.
Johnny, I wouldn’t be suprised if when your friend’s ancestors “Got off the boat” the original spelling of the name was probably “Rambeau.”
Wayne
Kelly’s Heroes–my favorite movie of all time!
I’ll tell you, I never met a veteran of any of the services that didn’t love “Kelly’s Heroes.”
High praise indeed!
There used to be air tanks next to interlockings around here when the switches were air-powered. I think just about all are now electric.
They used to make the coolest "ka-chunk, hissssssss" sound when they threw.
And when there was a failure at a ‘air plant’ - NOTHING MOVED, until the Signal Maintainer arrived and corrected the problem. Without air, the switches could not be considered in the ‘locked’ position - either normal or reverse.
Of course that’s when there were actually more than one maintainer for an entire division.