Model Railroading > Tank car markings - detail question

One of the details on pre-lettered tank cars is a yellow square with an 800 number to call in case of a spill. Can anyone tell me when this safety signage started appearing on tank cars and by what date was it mandatory? Was this only for cars hauling hazmat or are other cars required to have this too?

Also, when did the reporting marks start to get painted along the top centerline so they were visible if the car was laying on its side in a derailment. Was this something that was mandated or something some car owners did on their own?

Was wondering if either of these markings were in widespread use in 1979.

Thanks,

- Norm

This one?

I too was wondering...

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the rooftop reporting marks are a somewhat new appearance--late 90's to my best recollection.
the chemtrec decals aren't on every tank car, and I remember them in the late 80's but I don't know when they started...

I can't be possitive, but I believe I remember them on our chlorine tank cars in the mid 70's. We also had them on our trailers, about the same time frame.

Ron Evans
Golden Valley, AZ

The CHEMTREC labels are not mandatory, and do not appear on many hazmat cars. This topic was discussed on the Modern Freight Car List a few years ago - evidence suggested they appeared in the late 1970s, and at the time primarily on DOWX (Dow Chemical) tank cars. This shot from June 1979 is the earliest in-service example of a Chemtrec label I could find:

http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=5560

Similarly, top reporting marks are not mandatory... from the MFCL: It is neither a Federal (FRA) nor AAR requirement. The AAR in Appendix C to M-1002 (Specifications for Tank Cars) states that if the car owner elects to stencil on the top, they are to place it on the B-end of the car reading from the B to the A end. If so stenciled, the size and spacing must be the same as on the side of
the tank or jacket.

It appears that Dupont (DUPX) pioneered the use of top reporting marks in the mid 1990s, and their usage had spread within a few years.

Doug Stark

I am not sure if the top reporting marks are for safety if the car is on its side. My feeling is that many cars are top loading from elevated walkways and for safety reasons..dont put the wrong stuff in the wrong car, the reporting marks are on the top to help prevent that kind of screwup.
Roger Beckett

up833 Wrote:
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> I am not sure if the top reporting marks are for
> safety if the car is on its side. My feeling is
> that many cars are top loading from elevated
> walkways and for safety reasons..dont put the
> wrong stuff in the wrong car, the reporting marks
> are on the top to help prevent that kind of
> screwup.
> Roger Beckett

Silly me - I thought top reporting marks were to identify the car (and thus, it's contents) in case the car was derailed and laying on it's side.

- Arved

Arved Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> up833 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I am not sure if the top reporting marks are
> for
> > safety if the car is on its side. My feeling
> is
> > that many cars are top loading from elevated
> > walkways and for safety reasons..dont put the
> > wrong stuff in the wrong car, the reporting
> marks
> > are on the top to help prevent that kind of
> > screwup.
> > Roger Beckett
>
> Silly me - I thought top reporting marks were to
> identify the car (and thus, it's contents) in case
> the car was derailed and laying on it's side.

That may be an added benefit of the feature, but I suspect Roger's is the reason the feature was created.

While I don't have a picture of it, I have seen umpteen Cargill tank cars (no hazmats--just vegetable oils) that have the cars reporting mars on one of the stanchion posts that hold up the rooftop walkway handholds--presumably for car ID purposes for the person loading the car, that they get the correct product in the correct car, since most cars carry the same product all the time (reducing the need to steam clean a car). I, too, thought the rooftop reporting marks were more for the railroad in case of derailment--silly me! (or *realist* me)

DrLoco Wrote:
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> While I don't have a picture of it, I have seen
> umpteen Cargill tank cars (no hazmats--just
> vegetable oils) that have the cars reporting mars
> on one of the stanchion posts that hold up the
> rooftop walkway handholds--presumably for car ID
> purposes for the person loading the car, that they
> get the correct product in the correct car, since
> most cars carry the same product all the time
> (reducing the need to steam clean a car).

The implication here is that they're using that same car year after year after year for vegetable oil, without ever cleaning it?

Maybe I better quit eating french fries. YUCK! :P

(I guess you really don't want to know where your food comes from).

LarryDoyle Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> DrLoco Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > While I don't have a picture of it, I have seen
> > umpteen Cargill tank cars (no hazmats--just
> > vegetable oils) that have the cars reporting
> mars
> > on one of the stanchion posts that hold up the
> > rooftop walkway handholds--presumably for car
> ID
> > purposes for the person loading the car, that
> they
> > get the correct product in the correct car,
> since
> > most cars carry the same product all the time
> > (reducing the need to steam clean a car).
>
> The implication here is that they're using that
> same car year after year after year for vegetable
> oil, without ever cleaning it?
>
> Maybe I better quit eating french fries. YUCK!
> :P

"reducing the need" does not mean "never" in my book.

toledopatch Wrote:
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> "reducing the need" does not mean "never" in my
> book.

Ahhh, but, in terms of food - it does!

I worked in the food packaging industry for 40 years.

Sidebar:
Did you ever wonder why all true Scotch is imported? It's because it must be made in a wooden barrel that has been previously used for making whiskey (hence Scotch is "lighter" than whiskey because of it's reduced tannins leached from the wood). A wooden barrel may not be reused for food, since it may not be satisfactorily cleaned for re-use in the US. Ergo, you may not make true Scotch in US.

QED.

-Larry Doyle