They're a little hard to recognize because the insulated connection poles are stored separately for transport. Once they're mounted, they look a lot more electricky... I just noticed they're they're made by Westinghouse (kinda at the resolution limit). They made some pretty solid equipment. They left the large electrical apparatus market some time ago (after the photo) and ABB took over their designs. Nice to think that those big cans are relatives of train air brakes, traction motors, and some locomotives.
I'm guessing this oil would be PCB-laden, as it had excellent insulative properties (along with nasty health side effects). Here's a heavy duty load in Minot a couple months ago:
There have been improvements in circuit breaker technology. The old "bulk oil" breakers were completely filled in oil, but the latest are "minimum-oil" types (MOCB), where there's only oil in the contact chambers, reducing oil consumption. The MOCB only needs oil to quench the arc, as each contact chamber is independent. The oil used is common mineral oil because of its insulation properties. PCBs can be found in older breakers.
Yes! The oil is there to quench the arc that forms when the contacts open when there's an overcurrent condition. This protects the contacts from being damaged every time the contacts open under load. Of course, some arc by-products are formed, progressively contaminating the oil, which is why the oil has to be changed after a certain number of operations. But that's preferable to changing the contacts! Usually the arc is even more reduced by going first through a current-limiting resistor, then it opens completely. There are other arc-quenching media and methods, like air blast, vacuum, and SF6 (sulfur hexafluoride, a very heavy gas, not bad all by itself, but the arc by-products are really, really nasty). These aren't your average home breaker-panel items - Hydro-Quebec has some that break 735,000 volts, at thousands of amps!
Mike, Thanks for the intro on SF6; as a chemical nerd, I researched it briefly to see what the byproducts were. I had to know! Turns out some are worse than others, some are toxic gases, others are dusts, and most are not good to inhale, or become far worse when combined with water vapor. https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-05/sf6_byproducts.pdf
Oh, yeah! Right up there is HF, hydrofluoric acid, commercial toilet cleaner! Nasty... I wouldn't want to be one of the guys servicing those breakers...
Your Blomberg trucks have arrived. Stenciling reads "When Empty Return To Shop Supt. Paducah" and "Do Not Hump". Those heavy duty angled guards at each end should help keep trucks where they belong. Looks long enough for a pair of six axle trucks if needed. This would make a cool and fairly simple scratchbuild project. [Paducah, KY, 04/11/1987]
Looks like a standard flat with I-beams up the sides. Anyone got and old Geep that don't run no more?!
HHMM, An interesting car for sure. I wonder if a wreck damaged boxcar or similar, now in MW service, convertible plain bearing trucks, with rollers installed. I like it. Model trucks will need to be modified to remove the gear towers, add the traction motor cables, air cylinder lines and so on. ICG certainly had some most unique equipment didnt they?
I can imagine getting an e-mail from Amazon like that, then going to the pickup counter at the drug stores postal outlet, only to get a very stern look from the lady behind the counter.
The ICG had some neat stuff shoved into the tracks adjacent to the Paducah Shop, like former GM&O GP-30 #501 (with Alco trucks from FA trade ins). She somehow became slug unit CSX 2252. [04/11/1987]
It's a freight car, and it's a load, but not like you think... On a side note, there's only 3 chains securing that well to the flatbed deck. I wonder if that's enough? Aftermath of the BNSF derailment in May 2022 west of Minot, ND:
zooming in on the A** end of that aluminum trailer looks bent. Those MT stackers are heavier than some think. Good to see the un-railment getting cleaned up. Now!! On to the next disaster!
If I had only the first picture, I would think that the load was a very large wooden beam or assembly that got mangled in a tornado or something and thrown into a mud field. The color seems right for that. In which case I would think, how big was that originally? The closeup photo kinda clears that up. Mangled and dirty, the only clues visible from that angle are the road number and... graffiti just above it. Graffiti is like cockroaches, they can survive anything. So whatever the form of the end of the world, we will still have cockroaches and graffiti.
It does look bent! I searched all over Flickr for images of stack cars to see what an empty (~48'? 53'?) well weighs, but it doesn't seem to be indicated like it is on other types of freight cars. I'd guess 60,000# plus empty per well, but that's just a wild guess. Anyone know?
Generator on a flat car to provide Head End Power (well, tail end power in this case) for the Hill Country Flyer excursion train between Cedar Park and Burnet, Texas.
