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RE: [BRHSlist] Tanks

To: "'BRHSlist@egroups.com'" <BRHSlist@egroups.com>
Subject: RE: [BRHSlist] Tanks
From: "Shook, Richard" <rshook@j...>
Date: Tue, 11 Apr 2000 07:35:54 -0400
I agree with Leo as an Structural Engineer the round shape design takes care
of the load. NO baffles are needed. 20+ years ago I watched a bunch of
40-50' tank cars being scrapped and I never saw a baffle. My uncle in WI
cleaned "food" truck tanks (Mostly milk) and none of them had baffles which
supprised me. When I asked they said the tanks were full and could not
really slosh. A friend of mine is a long distance truck driver and he agreed
that the slosh was not bad, Meat loads were worst when the carcasses start
swinging!
Rich
-----Original Message-----
From:   qutlx1@a... [SMTP:qutlx1@a...]
Sent:   Monday, April 10, 2000 10:22 PM
To:     BRHSlist@o...
Subject:        [BRHSlist] Tanks 

Tom,Rich,Karl,In my best politically correct manner I must advise
that you 
nice gentlemen are completely incorrect. THERE ARE NO BAFFLES OF ANY
KIND IN 
TANK CARS . The only exception is at the top of the safety vent or
valve 
flange where by special option you can install a "milkstool baffle"
that 
keeps the surges of product from breaking out the frangible disc in
the 
safety vent when cars are coupled in compliance of OT5(under 4 mph).
Excuse 
me while I pick myself up off the floor from laughing. If by special
order 
you order a compartment car then by its nature the interior "heads"
will form 
a baffle between the compartments but these types of cars are
extremely rare 
and probably make up less than 1% of the fleet today. In bygone eras
when 
petroleum products were distributed by rail to retailers there were
more 2 
and 3 compartment cars(a note,multiple manway openings do not mean
there are 
compartments,today they're there to expedite loading,the way to tell
if its a 
compartmented car is to look at the nozzle or immediately below for
an alpha 
character A,B,C, which designates compartments by the
letter).Baffles in cars 
would defeat the purpose of the UTC "funnel flow" design which is
highly 
prized for its ability to completely drain a car as opposed to our 
competitors cars that are flat bottomed and don't drain as
completely. 
Another footnote is an ongoing AAR Rules committee issue of residual
product 
in mty cars that are derailed and the RR is responsible for cleaning
costs to 
make the repairs. The RR's argue that the cars weren't mty and they
shouldn't 
have to pay the full costs. The shippers argue the residue is normal
business 
and wouldn't be a concern if car hadn't been wrecked (and around and
around 
we go).There are no internal stiffing rings in tanks. The
reinforcement is on 
the exterior called repads that are extensions of the stub sills at
the ends 
of the cars where the platforms, safety appliance, brake
components,etc 
reside. The repads are steel plate welded to the tank bellys and
generally 
extend a few feet inboard of the body bolsters at the center
fillers. Except 
in special(old) designs they do not run the length of the car. The
tank shell 
itself is the structual member that takes all the draft and buff
loads of 
train action as well as the weight of the commodity. In addition to
the 
repads the other support the tank receives is at the body bolsters
which are 
above the trucks and generally extend about 1/3 the way up the
tank(note if 
you learn the styles of body bolsters,you can tell which builder
made the car 
regardless of whose marks its wearing). Well I'll close this session
of tank 
car 201 for now. Leo


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