It would be safe to assume that the railcars were not imported from the tropics & so the roling stock designer might be expected to have considered the possibility of frozen cargo. The present practice of plying an open flame over coal also suggests that your safety officer might have served in the Marine Corps. Most of us would move to a nicer spot.

Less seriously though;

Your railcar needs to have the side panels buttressed after you have removed the front & back panels. Thankfully for road hauliers the rolling stock engineers are generally a right bunch of muppets who never get dirty hands. Rolling stock retardation, oops, does not warrant the front bulkhead & similarly the acceleration of a train hardly calls for a rear panel. Dust in warmer transit operations can be contained by tarpaulin sheeting, like the truckers do!

So instead of putting a torch to the coal; use the gas to burn off the front & back panels of the (buttressed) railcars. Then you will be able to plough the crud over either end of the railcar. It will be faster & cheaper than any acceptable thermal process. You can then forget about the daft bottom opening doors in all weathers. HOW MANY LARGE, ALL WEATHER, DUMP THRUCKS HAVE BOTTOM DISCHARGE, OR EVEN A TAILGATE? Come on!

PS. How does the paint job look in the Spring? ■

Very well explained john :^) ■

Most thaw sheds I have seen are just a little wider than the rail car. Steam or glycol pipes run along the walls so that the heat transfer is radiant, (like standing in the sun). You are not trying to heat the air in the building, just warm up the material through the side of the car.

I am not sure what air temperatures you are looking at in your part of the US, or how long the car is full and below freezing. If the car has been filled only for a day or two at not real low temp's you may have an "egg" on your hands, hard on the outside, soft on the inside. The anti freeze probably evaporates off the top and gives you ahard top crust. Depending on how cold it is, you could be looking at a day or so in the shed to get the coal moving.

Like other people have suggested, after the thaw shed, usually there is an excavator permanently mounted on beams over the track to dig out the car. The last bits can be emptied out the bottom doors. ■

I apologize for reviving quite an old topic. I hope for now there is enough experience in using different technologies to unload in the most effective and efficient way the frozen coal from an open railcar. I wonder, if any of coal using or handling companies operating in extreme weather conditions could give any feedback on the efficiency of systems mentioned in the forum (coal thawing gas-fired and electric sheds, vibrators, anti-freeze treatment…)? We have side car tippler for open cars, the problem is that frozen coal remains in the bottom of the car. Will the installation of a thawing shed be a good solution? If only anti-freeze car treatment be of help? ■

I apologize for reviving quite an old topic. I hope for now there is enough experience in using different technologies to unload in the most effective and efficient way the frozen coal from an open railcar. I wonder, if any of coal using or handling companies operating in extreme weather conditions could give any feedback on the efficiency of systems mentioned in the forum (coal thawing gas-fired and electric sheds, vibrators, anti-freeze treatment…)? We have side car tippler for open cars, the problem is that frozen coal remains in the bottom of the car. Will the installation of a thawing shed be a good solution? If only anti-freeze car treatment be of help? ■

Originally Posted by Qwart

I apologize for reviving quite an old topic. I hope for now there is enough experience in using different technologies to unload in the most effective and efficient way the frozen coal from an open railcar. I wonder, if any of coal using or handling companies operating in extreme weather conditions could give any feedback on the efficiency of systems mentioned in the forum (coal thawing gas-fired and electric sheds, vibrators, anti-freeze treatment…)? We have side car tippler for open cars, the problem is that frozen coal remains in the bottom of the car. Will the installation of a thawing shed be a good solution? If only anti-freeze car treatment be of help?

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No need to apologize Qwart,

You have to keep in mind you are dealing with thermal mass

and the cold that goes along with it.

There is one product that is very effective with frozen coal and bypasses

the need to heat coal cars which is the car hoe.

www.sarkaconveyors.com

www.hoppercarunloader.com/

www.carhoe.com

Added by Administrator as an example only:

Railcars with frozen coal ■

Dear Sir

We noted your question regarding dealing with coal frozen in rail car. Perhaps we can offer a solution. We have a SURPLUS, Thaw Shed available for this application. Gas Fired. Excellent condition. Expandable, and built in such a way as to be removed easily. Original installation Contractor available to dismantle, move and reassemble. We are located in Canada, where temperatures are extreme.

Please feel free to contact us for additional information/photos etc.

Sincerely,

Al Goodmundson

Phone: (306)-664-7260

Email: norsequip@sasktel.net ■

Its not a problem that I have experienced but the two aspects described, of opening the doors and cracking the bulk, need to the addressed separately. Assuming that there are a number of railcars to be handled and time is of the essence, thawing out the bulk seems likely to be an inefficient and time consuming process.

For the doors, it may be practical to line the inner face with UHMDP to prevent ice bonding to the surface and/or fit an integral cam/ lever device that exerts a major force over a short distance. Failing this, using a crude screw jack to open the door with a handwheel would offer better control than crowbars and may be made part of the door, or attach to brackets welded on the door, depending on cost and access.

Breaking the bulk volume to stimulate flow raises the questions of how strong the frozen bonds are and what is the geometry of the flow channel to be created. If the coal sticks to all the car walls you may consider a full lining of UHMPE. Although this will not contribute to the fragmentation of the bulk, it will provide better surface release and allow larger agglomerates to discharge if the mass can be cracked, assuming that the following equipment can handle them. I would have thought that quite massive vibrators would be needed on the walls. What about a device for lowering a pnuematic pick into the bed at increasing distances from the outlet? It would be useful to have a drawing of the railcar to better assess other options. If you want to send to lyn@ajax.co.uk I will see if I can come up with any more ideas. ■

Invest in a "Car Hoe" and it will reduce your trouble considerably.

A car hoe is a pedestal mounted back hoe that is mounted near the siding where the cars are stored and it allows you to dig through the coal and force it throught to the hopper doors and out through to the undercar conveyor frozen or not.

more to follow on this:

send me your email address

lzaharis@lightlink.com

<www.carhoe.com> ■