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Permalink Reply by Vernon on November 6, 2012 at 11:22

They are carrying a variety of liquid/gas petroleum products among others mostly as a result I assume of the recent drilling boom.  If you look at the 4 digit number on the UN placard on the side it will tell you what product that car contains.  For a list of these UN numbers you can look here - 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_UN_numbers 

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Permalink Reply by Herman (Chuck) Plonnigs, III on November 6, 2012 at 12:58

Thanks Vernon…I’m going south tomorrow. If I see one I’ll make an effort to identify…I have seen trains with tankers in them but never with one made up of tankers only.

Thanks again…if I’m able to identify I’ll let you know

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Permalink Reply by Herman (Chuck) Plonnigs, III on November 7, 2012 at 12:29

Passed one this morning…all tankers headed south.

As we were running at different speeds I was unable to successfully identify numbers; however, the three engines on this train, as all the others I’ve seen, had the letters BNSF on them.

Thanks for all responses.

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Permalink Reply by Krkyoldhag on November 7, 2012 at 2:24

Trinity Industries outside Hallsville, TX builds these rail tankers.  They have contracts for next 5 years and work crews overtime to build them.  These tankers are for Pet. products and are moving oil and gas full time.

One of the employees there told me that they will be at maximum production until at least the pipelines are completed.

I guess we could look their stock up on exchange to see if last night's results curtail their business.

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Permalink Reply by Matt Hall on November 7, 2012 at 6:18

UTLX out of Alexandria!

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Permalink Reply by Les Bamburg on November 7, 2012 at 16:14

Herman,

These could be unit trains hauling crude oil from the Bakken Shale in North Dakota to St James, LA.  The growth in oil production has exceeded pipeline capacity and has required the excess volume to be moved by rail.

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Permalink Reply by Herman (Chuck) Plonnigs, III on November 8, 2012 at 9:46

Mr. B…not to imply I wish the fine folks in North Dakota any  ill will at all….but that is not what I wanted to hear as I have a few acres in Union Parish.

But thanks for your comment/observation.

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