Western Railroad Discussion > Jumbo open hopper — What was it built for?

Waiting at the 900 S crossing at the north end of the yard in Provo, UT, I was surprised to see an enormous open hopper.  60 or 70 feet long.  Six bays!  Probably twice the volume of the NS standard coal hoppers next to it.  

I've been watching trains for 30 years.  Have never noted one of these before. 

What was this built for?  Something half the weight of coal, but dense enough it won't blow away in the wind?  

Just curious.  

Ted in UT

 

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Wood Chips or Coke?

Victor Baird

My guess is for wood chips.  

Wood chips would need a cover or they blow out.  Any signs of a way to attach anything, even a screen?

Coke.   Watch the Waupaca, WI VR cam

In California pet coke cars must be covered.

I am going to guess wood chips. We use to see hopper cars carrying wood chips on the Dunsmuir Railcam when we had it and they had netting over the top to keep it from blowing away. I don't remember the size of the cars, but I do remember them being hoppers.

 

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

wabash2800 Wrote:
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> Wood Chips or Coke?

Both now.  Maybe 2-3 years ago the wood chip cars started being used to transport regular bituminous coke to one of my big customers on NS/SOU - Charlotte Pipe & Foundry.  There are shipments in jumbo chip hoppers and older smaller chip hoppers.  The jumbo hoppers hold a lot of coke, and a good working handbrake is essential for spotting.  The pipeshop also chocks the jumbo choppers once we spot them and cut away.

Notch7 Wrote:
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> Both now.  Maybe 2-3 years ago the wood chip cars
> started being used to transport regular bituminous
> coke to one of my big customers on NS/SOU -
> Charlotte Pipe & Foundry.  There are shipments in
> jumbo chip hoppers and older smaller chip
> hoppers.  The jumbo hoppers hold a lot of coke,
> and a good working handbrake is essential for
> spotting.  The pipeshop also chocks the jumbo
> choppers once we spot them and cut away.

Is there a load line for the coke? I am guessing that loading a jumbo to the max with coke would be overweight.

usmc1401 Wrote:
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> In California pet coke cars must be covered.

Pet coke and "regular" coke are much different things.

Here's a sister woodchip hopper in the Infinity Transportation fleet:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/kansasscanner/50651710827/

Matthew



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/25/23 17:25 by Roadmaster.

ts1457 Wrote:
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> Is there a load line for the coke? I am guessing
> that loading a jumbo to the max with coke would be
> overweight.
If there is, they were not observing it as of the time of my retirement last summer.  Coke was visible above the tops of some hoppers.  In the past when SOU jumbo chip hoppers were badly overloaded, they made a squealing "I don't want to roll" sound.  I didn't hear that from any of the coke shipments, and none derailed.  Typically SOU/NS allowed some overloading if the shipment remained on the system and not interchanged.  Surplus or outmoded chip hoppers and rotary dump coal gons get repurposed a lot.  My night local carried a lot of this traffic.

Wood chips. Looks like they're former CSX. The one in that Flickr link still had the Family Lines System lettering that was patched out.

I've seen some in Chicago that CSX cut down and rewelded for coke service.

usmc1401 Wrote:
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> In California pet coke cars must be covered.

I recall back in the early 1990s, Santa Fe was using covered hoppers for the California pet coke.

Elsewhere, I knew of some moves in open top hoppers.

I never have seen the stuff, put my impression is that it is pretty nasty stuff.

All interesting replies!  

This is what the NS coal cars were carrying, if this helps.  Is this coke?  

Ted in UT

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gobbl3gook Wrote:
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> All interesting replies!  
>
> This is what the NS coal cars were carrying, if
> this helps.  Is this coke?  
>
> Ted in UT

I think it is, but I would like someone else to confirm it.

ts1457 Wrote:
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> gobbl3gook Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > All interesting replies!  
> >
> > This is what the NS coal cars were carrying, if
> > this helps.  Is this coke?  
> >
> > Ted in UT
>
> I think it is, but I would like someone else to
> confirm it.

Yes that is "regular" coke made from coal. Pet Coke is a by-product from oil refining and is much smaller. It's almost a powder which is why it's usually shipped in covered hoppers. It will blow away while in transit if it isn't covered.

Pulled a lot of those cars on the L&N than CSXT in NW FLorida, South Alabama. Woodchips and sawdust. L&N's were built by Ortner and Greenville also built a version.. approx 6900 cu  feet. 100 ton capy and approx 70 feet long.
Had to be careful pulling a load of dust after a big rain. They would become overloaded with the water and you had to set them over to let the water drain out before leaving with them.

Steve
 

ts1457 Wrote:
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> usmc1401 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > In California pet coke cars must be covered.
>
> I recall back in the early 1990s, Santa Fe was
> using covered hoppers for the California pet
> coke.
>
> Elsewhere, I knew of some moves in open top
> hoppers.
>
> I never have seen the stuff, put my impression is
> that it is pretty nasty stuff.

Pet Coke is not hazardous in any chemical way. Its "hazard" is that it contains a lot of fine silt like form that is an inhalation hazard. It is finer that sand so if a person breaths in a large enough amount it will affect the lungs.

longliveSP Wrote:
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> > I never have seen the stuff, put my impression is
> > that it is pretty nasty stuff.
>
> Pet Coke is not hazardous in any chemical way. Its
> "hazard" is that it contains a lot of fine silt
> like form that is an inhalation hazard. It is
> finer that sand so if a person breaths in a large
> enough amount it will affect the lungs.

Thanks, I made a bad choice of an adjective. I wasn't talking about environmental hazards. I meant that it is pretty dirty stuff.