Our local paper reports that a BNSF train derailed 3 cars in their yard downtown yesterday. Two of the cars apparantly dumped big piles of corn out on the ground.
What is typically done with corn like this after it’s cleaned up? Chances are it was headed to an ethanol plant. Do they just truck it there? Or does it go to the landfill to feed more birds?
What is typically is done with coal that has to be cleaned up from a derailment?
Corn - Suck truck salvages what it can, then off to the local dump as food waste with the rest. (local critters get a fermented corn buzz)
Coal - goes to nearest Co-generation plant to burn. Dregs to landfill IF co-generation plant says it’s too dirty for them to burn.
Do you think the plant gets the used coal for free?
Didn’t Casey Jones hit a car full of corn and for years after at that spot, corn grew all around?
I think it’s been discussed here about how there’s green down the middle of the tracks around the diamond.
I doubt it - railroads don’t seem to have “free” in their vocabulary. Probably pay a salvage price (and way under market) for it.
There’s some fee to pay the co-gen to burn it and show it was disposed of properly. (keep the enviro-wacko lawyers looking for deep pockets unemployed or underemployed ten years after the fact) Hopefully it’s not a habit.
Not to mention a lot of squirrels during grain shipping season.
In a situation like this- 2 grain cars on their side dumping corn in a yard kind off the beaten path, who does the clean-up? Would a clean-up contractor come in to do the work, or would the local train guys be able to do that with maybe some locally rented heavy equipment?
Green squirrels? That’s nuts!
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Not in the National Contract…
In my experience the carriers hire contractors with heavy duty vacuum trucks to come out an clean grain from derailment areas - I have no idea what the charges are or what the disposition of the grain that is vacuumed upt.
Which option is not?
It makes sense that not just everybody has the industrial sized Hoover on a truck frame. Is it common to contract out the re-railing (is that what you’d call it?) the rail cars?
I’ve heard of pink squirrels, at least. There is a feed mill near Perris, CA, on the west side of I-215 that the ATSF served years before the freeway was put in. Driving south on whatever road it was, you could look at the tracks and it would be a veritable squirrel convention there. Not sure if the red tail hawks figured it out, but it seemed like the squirrels were inviting morsels waiting to be taken.
I don’t believe any of the Class 1 carriers have a Wreck Train on their roster anymore. Chessie System began unsing contractors in the late 60’s and early 70’s - Hulcher and Issringhausen were two that I recall from that point in time, Hulcher is still active today.
Having worked with both a Wreck Train and with contractors in wreck clearance, the efficiency of the contractors far exceed the abilities of the Wreck Train and it’s 200 ton plus wreck crane. For every use of the crane, its outriggers had to be set and blocked into place to provide stability of the cranes ability to lift. Without blocking they do ‘fall over’ and I have pictures in my personal files proving it.
Contractors wi
That’s what Hulcher does.
From a track guy’s point of view, Hulcher tends to be a bunch of reckless cowboys on sideboom cats. Much prefer to see big wheel-ed loaders (988’s and 980B’s) because they tear up less in the process of re-railing and can better help with track restoration. Get the track back in service quicker with less collateral damage.
…But the asset protection/ claim agents/ mechanical people don’t always understand this[:(] and they make the call.
In my experience the Mechanical Dept. is the organization that orders the off track contractors for wreck clearance. On site the contractors perform their actions of the ranking railroad official on the scene - normally an Operating Dept. official, in consultation with both Car Dept and MofW officials that are also on scene.