Oil and Alcohol buffer cars

[MadMike1024]

I've seen a lot of these in use locally. Would you guys like me to finish and upload it? It's a repaint of the Marias pass hopper.

[ozinoz]

Silly, silly man

When was the last time anybody said that they didn't want a freeware rollingstock project

for taking the time to bring it to the community (not me though - steam age only for me, don't even have Marias Pass )

[imnew]

Please do and thank you

[buzz456]

Silly, silly man

When was the last time anybody said that they didn't want a freeware rollingstock project

for taking the time to bring it to the community (not me though - steam age only for me, don't even have Marias Pass )

Get Marias Pass and redo it with Marc's Scale Rail pack and whola! Steam age. I run it all the time with GN steamers.

And Mike by all means upload that car.

[emdsd90mac]

Yes, it would be a wonderful addition to the rolling stock collection already on here. Thank you in advance

[GRE3839]

please do and release it and it would make a great addition to the freeware section on here and we need more content creators like you

[MadMike1024]

Completed and uploaded....

[OldProf]

I've seen a lot of these in use locally. Would you guys like me to finish and upload it? It's a repaint of the Marias pass hopper.

Maybe I'm holding my head at the wrong angle, but the rear end of that hopper looks considerably higher than the front end. A trick of perspective in the screen shot? Not enough coffee behind my eyes?

[buzz456]

It looks like UP doesn't do this or maybe all the trains I've seen are empties where they don't have any reason to do this.

[PapaXpress]

UP does this, but not with a specially painted hopper, usually an old beat up one. I see trains of tanker set out daily when I pass the Strong yard in Oakland.

[Ericmopar]

They all use buffer cars. It's Federal regs, I do believe.
They aren't usually specially painted though, at least not the ones I've seen on unit tank trains going through Flagstaff on the Transcon.
The regs say they should be a hopper or boxcar and filled with inert material.
No centerbeams, flatcars etc can be used. Nothing with a framework that is more likely to puncture the tankers.

A common misunderstanding, it that they are protection for the crew from the load in case of an accident, or a rough coupling maneuver, but the current philosophy, is more of a "bumper" car. They are supposed to be set up to absorb the shock of an accident.
In the past, when steam engines frequently emitted hot embers, there were supposed to be six buffer cars, not one between flammable loads and the engines. An additional example I read was explosive cars, like during wartime traffic conditions.

[arizonachris]

Maybe I'm holding my head at the wrong angle, but the rear end of that hopper looks considerably higher than the front end. A trick of perspective in the screen shot? Not enough coffee behind my eyes?

I think it is a trick of perspective, Tom. (parallax error, maybe?) If you look at the size of the engine, then the hopper, then the tank car. Tank car looks bigger than the engine, which we know can't be correct.

We'll know for sure once Bob updates the file library Sunday, and this beauty goes live.! Thanks, Mike!