Eastern Railroad Discussion > Big thirsty U30C

here is a picture of a CSXT U30C getting a refill at Pine St in Atlanta , Ga.

---

The locomotive probably holds more fuel than the truck is licensed to carry, excluding a tandem rig.

I photographed a similar fueling operation in Atlanta in 1994.
Upon showing it to a rail employee out here on the west coast,
his comment was "geeze, no blue flags?" It does look a trifle
precarious - no blue flags, hose draped across an active track,
etc. Does CSX not use blue flags? If not, how is the fueling
operation "protected?"

"If not, how is the fueling
operation "protected?"

It is still done this way today. They only add some fuel to each unit. The mainline yardmaster provides protection for the fuel truck after a request by radio. "BG" dispatcher will hold southbounds at the "Pine St" signal just around the curve to the left and northbounds at "Top Of The Slide" about a mile south of this location.
Most of the time, they try to get the southbounds on the closest track to prevent this scene from happening.

We fuel U.P. engines in the Chicago area. We can legally haul 7500 gallons of fuel on our 18 wheelers. Dan

Since fuel contractors aren't "railraod employees", blue flags aren't required. The regulatory authorities are working on changing this so that blue flags must be used by all, employees or not.