Yup, Texas on the Cotton Belt. Put pipe dope on the inside threads between the body and the brake pipe and anti-seize on the packing nut threads.
I wonder if they have to load and unload these cars with an eye to keeping the car somewhat balanced side to side?
That may be just to speed up the process. Remember that much of the load is not out at a car's edge. There are only a few inches of vertical motion possible in the spring packs and no place else, so as long as on level track, tipping should not be quite that easy to do.
This is interesting. I guess there exists some chance, or there exists a reason for caution. I found this photo (not mine).
Oh yes. I've seen a fork lift grab a stack off one side, in a sudden move and the car will rock. Springs are the only movement in a freight car. Between the frame bolster and the truck bolster, there are bearings which keep those surfaces parallel- Unless something quite drastic happens. On a properly loaded car, there is just as much weight along a center sill as there is the side sill. And not that much travel in springs. If the rails aren't level, side to side, that's also a problem. The load itself can tip off (slide) if tall one side and significantly less the other.
Yeah, even the fine print on my N scale center beam cars says "DURING LOADING AND UNLOADING EQUAL LOAD PATTERNS MUST BE MAINTAINED ON BOTH SIDES OF CAR"
You have to be careful moving this car as it might float away. At Commerce Street in Houston back in January. This used to be a low income neighborhood with a lot of industry but the Yuppies have colonized in and are complaining about the noise so UP is talking about abandoning the spur down the middle of Commerce Street. There goes the neighborhood.
I just don't understand the mindset of people today. They stupidly fail to do their due diligence, rent or buy in, then have the unmitigated gall to complain. And they get away with it. Just more proof of how screwed up is this country...
It ain't just your country. Anywhere people move in near tracks, knowing they're there before even signing the paperwork, it takes a week or two and they start complaining about the noise of the trains going by. As if they didn't associate the track with trains. Interestingly, they're the same crowd who want all the green stuff, like public transit, including the very trains they're complaining about. And the trucks that slow down rush hour traffic and mangle the roads (they think it's bad now, what if all freight were by road?). When I hear someone whining about such things, I always make them an offer - trade their nice house beside the tracks for my apartment. Shuts them up every time. I love trains. They make less noise than a lot of people.
Stupidity and arrogance exists everywhere, and in every environment. In 1947 the government donated the WWII Gulfport (MS) Army Air Force Base to the city. Developers immediately created a sizable upper class neighborhood with hundreds of homes. At the same time the airfield became a terminal for Delta and Southern Airlines, and for general aviation. About five years later the citizens of this neighborhood filed suit to have the airport shutdown during the night, and to block aircraft from flying over the homes. Fortunately the suit was eventually dismissed, but not until many lawyers had benefited financially. Similar to Russell's situation, airplanes were using the airport long before people moved into the neighborhood.
The government closed Cameron Station in Alexandria, VA. It was the HQ for the Defense Logistics Agency. When they put the very-desirable land up for sale, the city decided they didn't want to pay the fair market value for it and started to make noises about condemning the land and turning it into luxury condos. Someone in the Federal government wasn't amused, so they immediately withdrew the property from bidding and announced plans to open a prison on the site instead. LOL Alexandria opened their wallets and paid for the land.
I was stationed there but left a few years before the closure. This all happened in the early 90's, and I don't remember details.
