Western Railroad Discussion > Crash shields being added to tank cars hauling combustibles?

I was somewhat delighted at mid-day to catch a former BN locomotive in a power consist leading a westbound BNSF Railway ethanol train through Gardner, KS, on the Emporia Sub.

Perhaps I haven't been paying close enough attention to these trains, however. I noticed several of the tank cars had special heavy-duty shields on each end. Is this a new mandated standard for tank cars produced after a certain date?  Thought I would bring if up for discussion again if I've previously overlooked it as a railfan.

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Some views of the cars with the shields....
 

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I'll close with a couple of views of the rear DUP engine.

(Photos by Larry Byers) 

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These shields started appearing shortly after the Lac-Megantic wreck, if I recall correctly.

Not that they'd have made much of a difference in a pileup of that magnitude, of course.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/27/17 11:05 by toledopatch.

They do make a sort of comfortable place to wedge yourself in (between the handrail and shield) if you are skinny enough.

Posted from Android

That is the old design used for the CPC1232 – called a half height head shield….  The new DOT117 requirement is full height ½” head shield.  

Those are flammable placards, not combustible.  Can't make out the UN number, but ethanol is flammable.  Combustible has a lower flash point.

Jimbo Wrote:
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> Those are flammable placards, not combustible.
>  Can't make out the UN number, but ethanol is
> flammable.  Combustible has a lower flash point.

Think you meant combustible has a higher flash point. 

exhaustED Wrote:
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> Jimbo Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Those are flammable placards, not combustible.
> >  Can't make out the UN number, but ethanol is
> > flammable.  Combustible has a lower flash
> point.
>
> Think you meant combustible has a higher flash
> point. 

Yes, my mistake.  Combustible commodities need to be hotter to "flash."  Like diesel fuel.

According to the US DOT 2016 Emergency Response Guide, red placards are for both flammable and combustible  The guide is available as a download for smartphones.

Bruce

Now, you're going to have me looking for "full height" shields. Thanks for your commentary everyone. 

BCutter Wrote:
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> According to the US DOT 2016 Emergency Response
> Guide, red placards are for both flammable and
> combustible  The guide is available as a download
> for smartphones.
>
> Bruce

Combustible placards have white on part of the placard, bottom part as I recall.  Yes, they are both red placards.

Spontaneously combustible chemicals have a placard that is white over red. Placards for plain old combustible or flammable chemicals are both red, Seriously, get a copy of the ERG -- it has a lot of Fun (that depends of your idea of fun!!) information in it! Like most firefighters I have gone though Basic HazMat Ops Training and was on a HM Team for a time,

Bruce

BCutter Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Spontaneously combustible chemicals have a placard
> that is white over red. Placards for plain old
> combustible or flammable chemicals are both red,
> Seriously, get a copy of the ERG -- it has a lot
> of Fun (that depends of your idea of fun!!)
> information in it! Like most firefighters I have
> gone though Basic HazMat Ops Training and was on a
> HM Team for a time,
>
> Bruce

The combustible liquids (not spontaneously combustible materials) can have a red placard with the white that the number is on going down to the bottom of the placard, as seen here. They can also use the flammable liquid placard.

I should have been clearer in my description of the placard for Spontaneously Combustible chemicals.  The top half of the diamond is white and the bottom half is red.  "Normal" flammable and combustible placards are all red with the exception of the lettering and UN numbers.  The latter items are usually in white although you may see black lettering and border as well.