With autos, the mfg. have them scrapped under supervision. The future possible liability is way higher then cost to scrap. Very much like the Boeing 737’s that BNSF dinged up.
My carrier gets called all the time to accidents in our area with orders for vac trailers and liquid tanks. Why we can handle just about anything there is that goes in either a railroad tankcar or hopper and we have the equipment to transfer it to other equipment to get it secured. We also work in tandem with other carriers for stuff we do not haul like asphalt and most other oil products especially Propane.
Not just liability from end users but these days environmental issues on how cars are scrapped. Air conditioning refrigerant must be extracted, batteries, oil, fuel, tires, probably, and other pieces parts must be separated out, from what I hear. No longer can they just be buried in a trench along the right-of-way.
Google Earth has an interesting shot of Tehachapi loop in about 2013 with the autos from the racks that BNSF put on the ground at Marcel when its train rear-ended a UP train. (Wonder if the UP crew got whiplash injuries? It’s a common malady in California on the streets, anyway, usually treated by a lawyer.) It appears that the vehicles were taken from the derailment site to the loop area on flatbed tows and then loaded on auto carriers for their final ride.
Sears has a lifetime return policy on hand tools (socket sets, screw drivers, etc) Heard that they add them to remix concrete to prevent their second return.
Are railroads self insuring or have high deductable policies ($50,000,000 more or less). Doubt they have zero deductsble policies. Before the AT&T breakup Ma Bell did not carry property insurance. What is the worst that could happen? One exchange put out of service. This exchange could be replaced for far less than the potential premiums on the total nationwide system. The same logic could be applied to railroads. A lot of times companies that are self insuring or have high deductables employ an insurance adjuster to do the leg work on damages. The insurance company would bill the company for any claims settled plus their profit. To an outside person it would appear that the insurance company was paying the bill out of their pockets.
Class 1’s carry Catastrophic Insurance - the deductable is in the millions.
When Hurricane Katrina wiped out CSX’s line from Mobile to New Orleans, insurance payments provided a large percentage of the funds necessry to rebuild and restore the line to operation.
Doubt it. I’ve exchanged ratchets a few times that have worn out and they often replace them with either a refurbished one or brand new. As for the wrenches and sockets they probably send them to a scrap metal dealer to be recycled into new steel. No idea what they do with the screw drivers though.
As for the contents of train cars I imagine more stuff gets scrapped rather than sent to an auction to be bought by stores like Big Lots. Way more liability concerns than back in the day.