Eastern Railroad Discussion > Phillips 66 oil tank cars

Phillips 66 has a captive fleet of rule 1232 compliant tank cars used in captive service between North Dakota terminals and its Linden NJ unloading facility. I was surprised to see that each of the Phillips cars has the car's reporting number painted on each set of trucks.

I'm not aware that any other fleets stencil the trucks on cars to match up with the tank itself.

Does anybody have background on this? Here's a picture from a 66z train, with a 66xxxx tank car.

---

Car numbers stenciled on trucks is a fairly common practice, but I don't know the whys and wherefores of this practice. Hopefully someone in the know will enlighten us.

Yeah I see it done all the time, not sure the reason either

Posted from Android

SlipperyWhenWet Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yeah I see it done all the time, not sure the
> reason either

Well... when they end up halfway across the cornfield from the car they belonged to during a pile up it makes it easier to figure out what came from where...

Or when they go in to use on Silverton or East Broad Top they'll have the right trucks ready when they come back. They actually did this in the Canadian Maritimes when standard gauge cars came on ferries from the mainland. Narrow gauge trucks were put on at the pier for service on the island narrow gauge. Trucks were marked for each specific car so they would transferred properly when they left the island.
Rick

I started noticing it 5 or 7 years ago !

Ed Stewart
Jacksonville, FL

Reason Why....

Freight trucks are NOT securely attached to the car frame or body.
The car body has large circular disks, called the center plates [that the trucks are mounted-on]; the trucks have a circular "ring' --- cast integral with the truck's bolster.
The center plate fits securely into the truck's ring, commonly called the center 'bowl'. A hard graphite and emulsion 'patty' is used to lubricate the center bowl.
It is common to apply several patties --- any time the carbody is jacked clear of the truck bolster.

Now the 'WHY': Sometimes 'events' in train handling result in cars leaving the rails, often times at a considerable speed!
Since the trucks are not secured to the car bodies you wind up with a mess of bodies scattered across the R-O-W, as well as trucks all mixed up.

Freight cars represent a large investment by the cars' owners --- mostly banks and investment firms. The rate of return on leased cars and locos is significant.
The owner of the cars involved in a derailment is entitled to the per-diem dollars that the car would be earning --if still in daily service.

The investor is also entitled to the residual value of the car, less normal 'wear & tear'. A wrecked car has significant value, including the trucks and all the parts.
Tank cars are some of the most valuable investments that firms make. They pay some of the highest per diem (daily u$e) rates in the industry.
The railroads, on whose property the wreck occurred-on, are responsible for the value of all the cars involved, & their lading, as well as ALL other "losses", and must make the original car owner/investor 'whole' in his loss. Including continued payment of the per diem rate, until he car is properly repaired --OR, until the owner is paid the full [depreciated] value of the wrecked car (which will probably be scrapped).

Trucks, including the wheels/axles can be very valuable, --- so, to keep the records clear, the wreck crew and the RR 'loss protection' folks, at the scene, take pains to match up the pieces that flew across the landscape with their original car, number-for-number. Also, in case of monstrous fires that can burn off the paint, the truck pieces are deeply stamped with the same identifying information ---- presumably 'readable' even though the charred/missing paint.

Wes C.

It makes it much easier to verify your switch list or wheel report while walking next to your train or cut of cars when each car has the number and reporting mark painted on the trucks. The little things to appreciate.

Posted from Android

also saw a 67Z go west with NS-UP-UP and
all brand new SHPX cars on Wednesday morning
on the Reading Line.

twl

Excellent Q by Lackawanna 484 and answer by wcamp1472. Yes, real freight car trucks just 'sit' there under the car as described. No plastic pin like on my N gauge models or screw on HO stuff. If there were, would you want to be the person who had to lay on his back underneath a real railroad car, maybe derailed, and have to unscrew it? You would have to have a very short, but large blade screwdriver, and be big enough to provide tremendous force after many years of wear! I have noticed this for years on all types of freight cars. But my question is, since most cars have two trucks, and I'm sure after some service life they would have different 'wear' patterns, how do the wreckers know which truck goes under the 'A' end of a car and the 'B' end? I do not see that on truck stencils.

Front to back is not too important (A-B end if you would). However not only do the trucks fall off of crashing cars the truck itself disassembles as there is no retaining hardware for springs, bolsters and side frames. This stuff goes willy-nilly all over the place in a wreck. So that begs the question of why stencil the side frames unless you stencil each axle and all the springs? About the only thing tht stays together are the wheels to the axles.
Go

I do not believe there is a difference between A and B end trucks on railcars, but then again I just get paid to move them around....

Posted from Android

tp117 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Excellent Q by Lackawanna 484 and answer by
> wcamp1472. Yes, real freight car trucks just 'sit'
> there under the car as described. No plastic pin
> like on my N gauge models or screw on HO stuff. If
> there were, would you want to be the person who
> had to lay on his back underneath a real railroad
> car, maybe derailed, and have to unscrew it? You
> would have to have a very short, but large blade
> screwdriver, and be big enough to provide
> tremendous force after many years of wear! I have
> noticed this for years on all types of freight
> cars. But my question is, since most cars have two
> trucks, and I'm sure after some service life they
> would have different 'wear' patterns, how do the
> wreckers know which truck goes under the 'A' end
> of a car and the 'B' end? I do not see that on
> truck stencils.

Trucks are innerchangeable on both ends under the same car. Except for doublestack cars which have smaller cars on the A & B ends if its a 5-well car. The middle trucks under the C, D & E wells are bigger. 3 well doublestack cars all the trucks are the same size.

Which end?

With today's arrangements, using combined brake cylinders/brake beams, there is not any 'mechanical' necessity for maintaining location integrity, end-for-end
Freight cars have an 'A' and a 'B' end. so if its IMPORTANT, the trucks MAY be so-identified.

In the days of the body-mounted brake cylinders, the direction that the cylinder's piston rod extended towards --- was called the 'B' end.
With truck-mounted 'unitized brakes', now in common use, the 'B' end will usually be the end with the hand brake apparatus, together with airbrake control valves & reservoirs.
In cases of ambiguity [some special-purpose freight cars may have 2 complete sets of airbrake equipment], the A & B ends will be clearly marked ---to aid in recording the location of parts needing repair/replacement; and, there may also be 'right' and 'left' specific components. SO, car locating specificity is vital to accurate repair and expense records (time & materials).

Wes C.

Tropicana has been doing it for some time

Posted from Android

trkspd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It makes it much easier to verify your switch list
> or wheel report while walking next to your train
> or cut of cars when each car has the number and
> reporting mark painted on the trucks. The little
> things to appreciate.
>
> Posted from Android


Ha, are you serious, I have never once verified my switch list by looks at the trucks, NEVER!!

I would suppose also that in the event of a train wreck it would be helpful in an investigation to know what truck came from what car? Maybe not.

I recall caboose trucks being stenciled with car numbers but never on the outside.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/14 20:01 by wabash2800.

Really? If I have a list of the track, and the car numbers on the trucks all match and are in order doesn't that mean the list is good? If I am writing a list I look at the actual car body, don't think you're better than me.

SlipperyWhenWet Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> trkspd Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > It makes it much easier to verify your switch
> list
> > or wheel report while walking next to your
> train
> > or cut of cars when each car has the number and
> > reporting mark painted on the trucks. The
> little
> > things to appreciate.
> >
> > Posted from Android
>
>
> Ha, are you serious, I have never once verified my
> switch list by looks at the trucks, NEVER!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/14 20:11 by trkspd.

So... why is it that trucks are not mounted to the cars securely?

I do not believe it is because they do not make large enough screw drivers.

How secure are trucks on the locos, while I'm asking?

Thanks

/Mitch

Thanks for all the great comments / answers