Even without a roof, as seen in the photos it is still close by the tracks. How would adding roofing make a difference? Often there is a fence built for public safety, but I see none here.
That's what I figured. Even with the roof back in place, it wouldn't be any closer to the tracks but the process of doing it would put workers very close. Doug
A different view of a BNSF ES44: I'm told these containers have used septic tanks or something similar in them, going to disposal somewhere. CP trains on the Portal Sub have a few cars of these daily.
It might have a slight sag. I do not recall if that type of car was built with a positive camber. I would believe so. Loads into gondolas are often dumped. Boom! That sort of pounding can take a toll through many years. The load in picture, appearing to be scrap, is very heavy and was likely not gently placed. I would not be at all surprised to even find a few failing welds in the underfame assembly.
Those flat bottom gons are the Rodney Dangerfield of rail cars, they get beat up, overloaded and slammed around. I had one a few years ago that was loaded with Mill Balls it sagged so bad that the wheels rubbed on the bottom of the car, It was in the middle of the night, maybe 5-7 cars behind the power ,so when the flanges hit metal it made quite a light show, looked like rings of fire, It really slowed us down too. At best on the climb west out of Denver up the Moffat that night we were doing 11-14 mph, when we got into the tight curves it really gave us a show, we only made 6-7 mph. We BO'd the car, set it out.
Knowing the Moffat, those curves are near continuous, so it must have been a pain! Cliff Siding tends to collect bad orders from time to time. It's beyond the worst curves westbound and where trains used to meet due to its length. Where did you set it out?
CP 474-16 with an EMD consist. BNSF 9314, EMDX 7233, elephant style. CP Ottumwa Sub. St Patrick’s Day 2021 Top to bottom- Muscatine Letts Washington (2) Most people get drunk, others want sex but as for me, I go Railfanning.
Box car jacked up for repairs at North Proviso yard in Chicago. December 1942. Jack Delano photo, Library of Congress collection.
Whoa that's a short tank car! Never seen anything like it. Almost like someone filled it with hot water and it shrank.
This tank car seems so oddly-proportioned, fatter than a typical beer can tank car, but shorter than a normal tank car. Wild!
Looks like 1267 petroleum crude oil. That car has 70-ton trucks so it's not intended for a super dense load, just a smaller quantity than would be shipped in a 100-ton car. A small customer might work on that amount of product for a month before needing another load.