Choo choo cha question. About trains. For grammy.
November 24, 2013 9:52 AM Subscribe
Help me help grandma figure out what's in the passing trains.
Mefites. Megranchillen.
Grandma is with me and she is absolutely insistent that I figure out what is in the passing trains.
We've been staying south of Seattle and there is a train running through the valley that is extremely active. There are many cars on each passing train, and they are carrying some kind of cargo. Grandma really wants to know what is in the trains. General answers are not satisfying her.
I've done Googling and best I can tell is that the passenger route equivalent is the Coast Starlight. But these are cargo trains, not passenger trains. They run through the night.
Is there any hope for me answering demanding grandma's question? What's in the cars? I think she'd be satisfied to hear the same answers I'm giving her (food, building materials, trappings of commerce), if it was from some sort of authoritative source. Especially if there were some numbers involved.
She says if you can't help we are going to have to go get in the trains to see what's in there. She adds that she is dissatisfied that she sees nothing going in the trains.
Thank you for any help you can provide. I'm really not ready to get my first b&e for a train full of turnips.
Me & Barb
Mefites. Megranchillen.
Grandma is with me and she is absolutely insistent that I figure out what is in the passing trains.
We've been staying south of Seattle and there is a train running through the valley that is extremely active. There are many cars on each passing train, and they are carrying some kind of cargo. Grandma really wants to know what is in the trains. General answers are not satisfying her.
I've done Googling and best I can tell is that the passenger route equivalent is the Coast Starlight. But these are cargo trains, not passenger trains. They run through the night.
Is there any hope for me answering demanding grandma's question? What's in the cars? I think she'd be satisfied to hear the same answers I'm giving her (food, building materials, trappings of commerce), if it was from some sort of authoritative source. Especially if there were some numbers involved.
She says if you can't help we are going to have to go get in the trains to see what's in there. She adds that she is dissatisfied that she sees nothing going in the trains.
Thank you for any help you can provide. I'm really not ready to get my first b&e for a train full of turnips.
Me & Barb
retired rail here, what kind of rail cars, what RR is it?
posted by raildr at 11:27 AM on November 24, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by raildr at 11:27 AM on November 24, 2013 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Mmm... no suggestions on what's in them, but might calling up the railroad company satisfy her you tried?
I contacted a railroad company a couple years back via email, to ask them to please pass my utmost thanks on to "the Burlington Northern guy" that jumped in the river and rescued my terrified dog, and then handed him over to a local who ran him up to the vet's. (Long story short - he followed the deer OVER the cliff, a direction it didn't even occur to us to look.) They were amazingly pleasant and helpful about my odd request - it's always possible that your off-the-wall question might make someone's day.
posted by stormyteal at 11:49 AM on November 24, 2013
I contacted a railroad company a couple years back via email, to ask them to please pass my utmost thanks on to "the Burlington Northern guy" that jumped in the river and rescued my terrified dog, and then handed him over to a local who ran him up to the vet's. (Long story short - he followed the deer OVER the cliff, a direction it didn't even occur to us to look.) They were amazingly pleasant and helpful about my odd request - it's always possible that your off-the-wall question might make someone's day.
posted by stormyteal at 11:49 AM on November 24, 2013
Best answer: Here's BNSF vague list of what they transport. Also the Port of Seattle's Port 101 series (in the hopes that it will be offered again). The containers that come off of ships appear to travel distances only by rail (as in, we see trucks carrying containers within a mile or two of Harbor Island, but never further away, but we do often see containers on the trains going by Carkeek Park). And BNSF's contact info.
It isn't super specific, but here are some container types and pictures of some of them. Also Washington State's imports and exports, so you can make more specific guesses about, say, what liquid is in that tank container.
posted by Margalo Epps at 12:09 PM on November 24, 2013
It isn't super specific, but here are some container types and pictures of some of them. Also Washington State's imports and exports, so you can make more specific guesses about, say, what liquid is in that tank container.
posted by Margalo Epps at 12:09 PM on November 24, 2013
Best answer: I can totally appreciate your situation....when my Dad was in his early 80s we took him and Mom on a few extended road trips and he was obsessed with the number of semi trucks on the road, and what were they all carrying?? Mom, on the other hand, was the train spotter....although she didn't necessarily concern herself with the cargo, she still wondered where they came from, where they were going, etc.
I can't speak for the specific trains running past your neighborhood, but having worked in the steel industry for 20 years (and thus also being involved in the transport of related cargo - car parts and such) I can say that a lot of the same materials that are often transported by truck are hauled by freight trains whenever "Just In Time" delivery is not a factor. So, for example, if a stamping plant has a long-term order to produce X-part, it is more cost-effective to ship the coils of steel to the plant via train (prices for truckloads fluctuate based on gas prices, and trucks are more susceptible to inclement weather than trains). Likewise, many plants ship their completed dies and stamped parts to automotive factories via train if it's an ongoing part - that is, something that is or will be used in manufacturing for the next six months or year.
posted by Oriole Adams at 1:07 PM on November 24, 2013
I can't speak for the specific trains running past your neighborhood, but having worked in the steel industry for 20 years (and thus also being involved in the transport of related cargo - car parts and such) I can say that a lot of the same materials that are often transported by truck are hauled by freight trains whenever "Just In Time" delivery is not a factor. So, for example, if a stamping plant has a long-term order to produce X-part, it is more cost-effective to ship the coils of steel to the plant via train (prices for truckloads fluctuate based on gas prices, and trucks are more susceptible to inclement weather than trains). Likewise, many plants ship their completed dies and stamped parts to automotive factories via train if it's an ongoing part - that is, something that is or will be used in manufacturing for the next six months or year.
posted by Oriole Adams at 1:07 PM on November 24, 2013
Best answer: I used to work in IT for BNSF, in the dept that did the software for keeping track of which cars were attached to which trains in which order. One of the things that I thought was interesting is that we had a "code freeze" from Oct 1 to Jan 1 every year because that is the busiest period for the railroad and we couldn't let software changes interrupt the business. Oh, I asked, why so busy then? Duh - all those Christmas presents that folks are buying in stores and ordering online - many of those items are shipped via railroad. If you've ever looked into the back of the UPS truck when he drops off your package, that is often what it looks like inside a train car: boxes of stuff. It could be anything in the boxes, from shipments of basketballs to homemade cookies.
Other things:
Here's a list of different types of railroad cars which tells what might be in the different types of cars. Here is a virtual tour of a train that you can move interactively and click on each car to see what it's carrying.
If there is a major manufacturer near you (Boeing, perhaps?) they may have their own rail station very close to the plant or warehouse. Parts would come in on the train, and finished products go out (of course jet planes don't ship out on trains, but wings and engines and fuselages ship in, as well as hundreds of smaller parts that come in boxes).
If you see the train cars that look like they are holding the back of a truck, they are. It's called Intermodal. The rectangular part can be put onto a train, an 18-wheeler truck, or a ship. They use a big crane/elevator device to pick up the box and move it.
posted by CathyG at 1:56 PM on November 24, 2013 [2 favorites]
Other things:
Here's a list of different types of railroad cars which tells what might be in the different types of cars. Here is a virtual tour of a train that you can move interactively and click on each car to see what it's carrying.
If there is a major manufacturer near you (Boeing, perhaps?) they may have their own rail station very close to the plant or warehouse. Parts would come in on the train, and finished products go out (of course jet planes don't ship out on trains, but wings and engines and fuselages ship in, as well as hundreds of smaller parts that come in boxes).
If you see the train cars that look like they are holding the back of a truck, they are. It's called Intermodal. The rectangular part can be put onto a train, an 18-wheeler truck, or a ship. They use a big crane/elevator device to pick up the box and move it.
posted by CathyG at 1:56 PM on November 24, 2013 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: @raildr - BNSF
I'm going to read the rest of these fantastic comments now!
posted by letahl at 5:03 PM on November 24, 2013
I'm going to read the rest of these fantastic comments now!
posted by letahl at 5:03 PM on November 24, 2013
Response by poster: I read the answers to Grandma. I also read her the whole BSNF train tour. She seemed not just satisfied, but delighted. Thanks, all!
PS Now she wants to know what the trucks are doing that you can see from our balcony. :)
posted by letahl at 8:32 AM on November 25, 2013
PS Now she wants to know what the trucks are doing that you can see from our balcony. :)
posted by letahl at 8:32 AM on November 25, 2013
I'm not sure where to look for something authoritative, but I'd guess the trucks are transporting to and from airplanes and trains. (Though presumably also stuff close enough by that trains don't make sense, like produce from nearby farms to Seattle and Tacoma.)
If you write down the names of trucks it becomes a lot easier to figure out what they're transporting. Charlie's Produce, for instance, is a fresh produce supplier for restaurants, Amazon Fresh is delivering groceries and Amazon Now items ordered online.
posted by Margalo Epps at 4:45 PM on November 25, 2013
If you write down the names of trucks it becomes a lot easier to figure out what they're transporting. Charlie's Produce, for instance, is a fresh produce supplier for restaurants, Amazon Fresh is delivering groceries and Amazon Now items ordered online.
posted by Margalo Epps at 4:45 PM on November 25, 2013
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by beagle at 10:05 AM on November 24, 2013 [2 favorites]