Contractors work on the siding to the ethanol unloading racks at a petroleum terminal at Sinking Spring, PA, yesterday. NS' Harrisburg line dominates the foreground.
A big yellow thing to bump this thread up. In Houston, at Tower 26, Uncle Pete is out to weed out some... weeds... Former CP SD40-2 turned into a weed killer train power unit by Relco. This train went into service a few years ago. It carries 100,000 gallons of herbicide and can spray between 25 and 60 gallons per mile of track.
Stone blower? Closest match while looking for comparable images on Harsco's and other sites. Or a track inspection vehicle?
It has flexible skirts that drop down to almost track level like rail grinders but I don't think this is a rail grinder. Not dirty enough or long enough.
I agree. I'm still leaning toward a stone blower or maybe a laser rail cleaner. Laser cleaners burn off any smooshed leaves and other debris but don't abrade the rail.
No help but I found this pic and it looks very similar. Haven't been able to get to railpictures.net to see a description on it.
Well, that's what's written on the side of that unit! I love the big plumbing farm in the background.
Sometimes it's complicated to tear down that sort of installation, like a big reinforced concrete coaling tower that straddles or is right next to an active main line. The big three-bay coaling tower in Toronto (was visible from the CN Tower) was never torn down, but it was moved 600 feet to a spot near the ex-CP John Street roundhouse where a museum resides. Now that's preservation! There's another massive concrete coaling tower straddling an active double-track main line on the GTW in Lansing, MI. Yes, it's still standing! It's a trade-off between taking it down and risking damage to the tracks or leaving it there and inspecting it regularly to figure out if its time to demolish it in a controlled manner, giving time to build a temporary bypass track.
