Along the Rolla-Lebanon Subdivision Today

Discussion in 'Rolla-Lebanon Subdivision' started by WindsorSpring, Oct 16, 2018.

  1. palallin

    palallin Member

    Saw an interesting EB train this AM. Three pumpkins on the point. MANY empty gons and coil cars (where do the covers get stored when not in use???). One very interesting flat: heavy duty with articulated end bogies and a total of 6 trucks. Not a well car, and the deck didn't look particularly beefy, but I suspect it can haul a heavy (if not overly tall) load.
     
  2. WindsorSpring

    WindsorSpring Member

    Many of the loaded coil cars headed west have no covers. This observation applies for both the unit trains with single unit lead and two units pushing as well as to the "loose cars" in the road freights. It does not necessarily answer your question, but since the cars are likely pooled for that service, I guess the covers are held at the origin.

    I have seen the flat you describe, or ones like it many times.

    (Note to self: Carry the ( ) camera when doing garden work or cutting grass :) )
     
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  3. WindsorSpring

    WindsorSpring Member

    BNSF ran its Employee Appreciation Special today from Lindenwood west. There were two sections, one leaving around 1 PM and the other around 6 PM. Here are two photos of the train passing through Kirkwood around 6:15 Tuesday evening, July 23. I got decent photos of the two trains outbound and will put them in an album. The evening train passed Kirkwood eastbound just after 8:00 PM. I was told they were scheduled to Rook, just east of St. Clair.
     

    Attached Files:

  4. William Jackson

    William Jackson Bill Jackson

    George, that is nice to see again, during the late 80's BNSF would do those rides, being on the Powder River Division I got several rides.
     
  5. Bob

    Bob Member

    Man, oh man. Does that piece of track bring back memories! Does anyone remember the M.P. Carondelet branch crossing just east of Kirkwood?
    Does anyone remember the old section house that just to the west of the crossing?
    When my father worked for the Valley Park section gang, he rented that section house. We lived there for about five or six years.
     
  6. WindsorSpring

    WindsorSpring Member

    I remember the MP Carondelet branch and the crossing at Fairlawn. The MP branch is now a trail I ride frequently on my bike. It is great fun to see if there are River Sub trains crossing over it at Alpha and of course it is fun to see trains on the former Frisco track while biking. There is the old concrete arch bridge over Leffingwell in Kirkwood, too. I think I have been "run over" by a train there, once.
     
  7. frisco1522

    frisco1522 Staff Member Staff Member

    I rode the 1 o'clock train. We reversed just east of Pacific. The 6 train went to Rook. Rode in the full length dome. Very enjoyable day.
     
  8. Bob

    Bob Member

    From that old concrete bridge, look up the hill into the cemetery, my parents are buried in such a spot as to "see" the trains go by.
     
  9. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Mountaincreekar is correct. When being assigned to a plant for a startup project, an extensive safety seminar was conducted. I still recall vividly the seminar at our Chocolate Bayou plant (Alvin, Texas) in November, 1964 (long time ago!). The operation we were starting up utilized Hydrofluoric Acid (HF) as an alkylation catalyst. HF is an extremely strong and aggressive inorganic acid - it dissolves glass! We had two demonstrations as part of our safety training - one was putting out a pipeline flange fire with only a fire extinguisher (lots of fun!), we all had to do it; but the second was most memorable - they took a cow's eye they got from a meat butcher, and contacted it with HF. It just shriveled up into a blob. The learning point was - don't ever go into an HF area without a safety suit and a safety helmet and mask on in case there was a HF release, and never enter the area alone. Lesson learned!!!!!
    BTW, it was a very successful startup, with no injuries, no HF problems, and is still operating successfully today.
    K
     
  10. Ozarktraveler

    Ozarktraveler Member

    HF-6 is used in the uranium enrichment process. Nasty stuff indeed.
     
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  11. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    What do you mean by HF-6? Is the six a concentration number?

    Our HF came in by tank car from two suppliers. I'm not sure what strength it was - I'm thinking it was 100% liquid HF. Don't remember what concentration strength of HF that was in water. The tank cars had relatively small tanks, but were battleships. Didn't want a spill from a split open tank in the event of a derailment.

    As we were receiving the first loads of HF, our unit in the plant was buzzed a couple of times by a helicopter. We figured that was our competition, who we knew used a different process to make a competitive product. They never came back as I guess they saw the cars and learned that we were alkylating with HF as the catalyst.
    K
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2019
  12. Ozarktraveler

    Ozarktraveler Member

    Sorry, HF was used in the uranium enrichment process, one stage being uranium hexaflouride (UF6).

    That's what I get posting while working.
     
  13. WindsorSpring

    WindsorSpring Member

    We have been seeing a "train" of hopper cars pulled by a big Hi-Rail truck go back and forth on the Cuba Sub through Kirkwood the last couple days. Today, it placed ties along the south (eastbound) main near Geyer and Big Bend for future use. At this time, I do not know whether this is routine tie replacement or staging for welded rail installation. Traffic backed up as the train went through the crossing as the first picture shows. Apparently, there is a lot of tie replacement taking place as another thread ( http://frisco.org/shipit/index.php?threads/track-rehab-in-rolla.12757/ ) mentioned.

    0311 0846 Tie Placement (4) cs.JPG
    Here is a better view of the train

    0311 0847 Tie Placement (5) s.JPG

    It would not hurt to show the Hi-Rail vehicle in better detail for modelling purposes.

    0311 0848 Tie Placement (7) s.JPG
    Notice there are 3 axles on the rails to push it along and the steel in front raise the cab above the rails. Finally, here is a detail shot of the crane with a bundle of ties.

    0311 0849 Tie Placement (9) s.JPG
     
  14. Great pic's. Always like the unusual, mow, any rare loco's and rare passenger trains.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 11, 2020
  15. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    George -
    Help me remember ..... is the main line, westbound, all welded through the Kirkwood area, or is it still sectional? I know the eastbound line is still sectional there.
    Thanks.
    K
     
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  16. WindsorSpring

    WindsorSpring Member

    Ken, westbound (north track) is welded rail from Lindenwood (or at least from Old Orchard) to Geyer Road. There is a single section (about 600 feet?) of welded rail on the south track just west of Geyer Road. The rest of the south track east of Geyer is still sectional rail.
     
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  17. Great pics! Thanks for sharing those.

    Steve
     
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  18. meteor910

    meteor910 2009 Engineer of the Year Staff Member Frisco.org Supporter

    Thanks George.
    Still no luck in finding a pic of the old Kirkwood depot that sat just north of the tracks, west side of Kirkwood Road? There has to be one somewhere!
    K
     
  19. WindsorSpring

    WindsorSpring Member

    Tie replacement looks complete through Kirkwood on the south track. The crews have moved east into Webster Groves. As the photo shows, they are collecting the old ones. We watched the crane operator take some care to keep the load neat just before he picked up this bundle. 0326 Collecting old ties (2) c.JPG
     

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