Excess of rail tank cars?

[Jeff_H]

I hope they get moved every couple of weeks of they are full of fluid! There will be flat-spotting of the wheels, journal bearings, and corrosion build on the bogies, plus concentrated weight on the tracks in one spot (especially during spring thaw) to be concerned about.

Where these are, that would not be too do-able. Seemed like the cars were in groups with gaps (maybe at gravel field road crossings). So, no way to move them easily except pull each section out to somewhere to get at the next section OR shove miles and miles all together into one train and pull it all at once!

The flat-spotting of the wheels or the bearings reminded me of a tour of a gas turbine generator plant I was once on as a college class field trip. It was one of those small plants used for peak demands. Turbine with basically 2 jet engines on each side pointing at top/bottom of the generator turbine. There was a geared motor running to keep the generator shaft turning very slowly whenever the unit was in a standby state. The tour guide explained that was to prevent the bearings from getting flat spots from the massive weight of the shaft and rotor.

[8E45E]

The flat-spotting of the wheels or the bearings reminded me of a tour of a gas turbine generator plant I was once on as a college class field trip. It was one of those small plants used for peak demands. Turbine with basically 2 jet engines on each side pointing at top/bottom of the generator turbine. There was a geared motor running to keep the generator shaft turning very slowly whenever the unit was in a standby state. The tour guide explained that was to prevent the bearings from getting flat spots from the massive weight of the shaft and rotor.

It is crucial for a turbine as they rotate in the five-figure RPM range in normal operation.

To add 'Studebaker' in the topic, it doesn't hurt to manually rotate the supercharger, on cars so equipped, every couple of weeks while its in storage for the winter for the same reason.

Craig

[BobPalma]

It is crucial for a turbine as they rotate in the five-figure RPM range in normal operation.

To add 'Studebaker' in the topic, it doesn't hurt to manually rotate the supercharger, on cars so equipped, every couple of weeks while its in storage for the winter for the same reason.

Craig

That's another good point, Craig...and further reason to crank an engine over until it shows oil pressure before attempting to "fire" it. BP