Eastern Railroad Discussion > RBMN hoppers destined to be scrapped

Was passing through Leesport, PA and came across seventeen of these RBMN hoppers that had "SCRAP" spray painted on the side. Asking mostly out of curiousity about why they are being scrapped, perhaps outlived their life span or getting rid of excess inventory of no longer needed hoppers?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/21 12:21 by Pattenburg.

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Maybe their replacing them with new Aluminum cars instead. If they are replacing them it's because of age of cars, cost and cut down on the weight being pulled by their trains.
Here is a link that might help. https://www.aluminum.org/sites/default/files/Light%20Metal%20Age%20--%20Aluminum%20Applications%20in%20the%20Rail%20Industry.pdf or https://www.joc.com/lower-weight-less-corrosion-make-aluminum-coal-cars-popular_19920915.html
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/04/21 06:28 by MrTransportation.

Some of those hoppers are quite old and have received the constant abuse which comes with coal country railroading. If you take a close look at the sides of that hopper, there are numerous weld patches. Even back in 2006/2007, a majority of the hoppers were frequent visitors to the car shop simply for rust damage and progressive deterioration. It is also possible some of them have reached their mandatory overhaul/rebuild date. I am quite surprised some of them lasted this long. Hope this provides an adequate answer for you.

Posted from iPhone

Agree with offthebeatentrack.  According to my research,this particular car was originally built by the N&W Shops in Roanoke sometime in 1979 as an Upper Merion and Plymouth 6000 series 3-Bay 100 Ton Hopper. It was part of a group that was eventually picked up by CSX before being acquired by the RBM&N.  40 plus years of constant coal service will certainly take it's toll no matter how much care is given by the Car Department.

R&N picked up a whole bunch of aluminum hoppers in excellent condition that were in storage. Sometime in the last year or two. Yes, newer and lighter.
Gonut

Thanks to one and all for educating me on what I asked about. Stay safe and well.

Coal hoppers constructed of steel suffer from fast corrosion of their sides and other parts that come in constant contact with coal. Corrosion effects are so bad at times that cars have to be reweighed because of the weight loss, i.e. thin sides.
cr

Doesn't the AAR or the FRA prohibit interchange of cars once they reach a certain age?

Here's a couple more taken this afternoon. The low sun shows how really bad some of these have become. And as Rod said, built in 79

Doug Wetherhold
Macungie, PA

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If I remember correctly freight cars have a 50 year life span for interchange service. After that I am not sure if they need an FRA waiver or have to stay on the home road only. 


Randy Allard

Even some of the ex-PPLX cars. The bodies don't look bad, but with a build date of 6/71, they'll hit firty shortly

Doug Wetherhold
Macungie, PA

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