Oil Tank Unit Train Usage Exploding!!

I thought there was going to be FIRE 

Interesting idea though, a major airline making it own fuel. I guess it shows just how much the oil companies are gouging us.

BNSF RR owned by Warren Buffet who is friends with President Obama, who killed the Trans Canadian pipeline that would carry this oil.  Interesting.

At least the oil is flowing unlike in the Gulf.

3rd rail Mike - Thank you for posting the excerpt from Tom Rush's version of "The Panama Limited". Here's the original, which Tom borrowed, virtually 1:1.

       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPNgvk_zK50

It was done by veteran blues musician Bukka White in 1930! Subsequently he took notice of the changing railroad landscape and recorded "The Fast Special Streamline" in 1940. In between, he did time in Parchman Farm for murder. Magnificent folk music from a man who rode the rails as a hobo, himself.

Mark,

big fan of all of the early folk artists and love listening to the original.  Ive seen Tom give him credit numerous times.  He really preserves the true sound and feel of the song.

Think Tom Merged Bukka's "Panama" and "The Fast Special Streamline". Always liked Bukka's line, "She's tippin 'cross them automatic switches, taken coal and water on the fly". Certainly taking artistic liberties, but clearly a man familar with railroad operations.

BTW, Mike, great hat!

But the pipeline to Canada does not explain the unit trains on UP's Sunset Route houston to Welder for the Eagle Ford play.

To me, the oil from Canada can come by unit trains on rail lines already built?

Delta is investing in unit oil trains from the Dakotas to a refinery along the East Coast.  Now how will Delta get the av gas to its airpplanes?

There is one thing about pipelines, and railroads in some areas:  they can come in and condemn your land as if it was a government agency?  I do not trust governments, but I trust even less when you cannot tell where private businesses and government begin or end.  Sounds like the beginings of the country of Rhodesia and the DeBear Diamond company

BNSF has started operating unit tank car trains from the oil shale fields of North Dakota to the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, WA (on an ex-GN local branch). 

The state and local citizens and politicians are up in arms over a proposal to move several coal trains a day to a proposed new deepwater coal export terminal near Blaine, WA but no one seems to be complaining (yet) about these crude oil tank trains moving mostly over the same lines...

Mark,

As the famous James Bond once said, "You're joking!".

Hmmm and what you wear hanging out the cab of the train is........?     Have a good weekend Hotwater!

Does this mean we will see more of these.....

Now how will Delta get the av gas to its airpplanes?

WEll if Delta Buys the Refinery in Philly, They got Tanktrains as well as the Philadephia Airport or lots of truck with AV fuel to run up and Down I95 to various Delta Airports...

EWR- NEWARKNJ

JFK

LGA

BOS

BNH

BWI

IAD

DCA

First, I generally don't "hang out of the train", since when I'm not in the cab, I'm relaxing in a chair or coach set listening to the exhaust.

Second, when I'm working I either wear NO HAT AT ALL, since the wind tends to blow it off, or if the weather is chilly, a Kromer of Red, White, & Blue American Flag motif, or just plain black.

Certainly NOTHING like your "hat"!

There was a train in GREEN EGGS (Ugh!) AND HAM!

And oil is good, coal is bad?

The BNSF runs 4-5  tank trains a day down to E. St. Louis where UP takes them on to mostly Louisiana a bit to Texas. These are all conventional tank cars and all are pretty new. Seldom hear a flat spot as they roll by.

They must be able to load and unload these things pretty quickly, and each car has to be hooked up individually.

 I never see any of the "TankTrain " cars through the St. Louis area, are they still around?

Dan

I had done a thread about a new rail spur off the Old Montour Railroad (Rail trail) here in Pittsburgh.  LNG products from Marcellous/Utica shale via the Markwest Liquification Plant, Houston, PA.   The new spur, which attaches to the W&LE (Wheeling & Lake Erie RR), and the car loading yard are capable of 200 cars a day.   I believe at present we are shipping about 20 cars a day. We are quickly ramping up here in Western PA, the state does a well count ever 6 month. Reporting wells, a few weeks ago, was 500 and some, there are a lot more, a well has to be connected, to be counted, the collection piping system is taking a while to catch up. Busy Rt 50 and Rt 519 that accesses the plant are 2 lane well maintained rural roads. I can't image the increased truck traffic without the railroad.  Natural gas liquids are priced competitivly with oil.

One of the first trains.