Weekly Photo Fun - Feb.6th-12th, 2015

[doctorwayne]

Saw an old BNSF Boxcar on a train in Delaware.....

That looks like it was, at one time, a covered hopper for carrying carbon black, as evidenced by the numerous small hatches. It's very unlikely that it was originally a BNSF car, though, as most were privately-owned and/or leased. While it's still a covered hopper, it's been turned into a buffer car, and is probably loaded with sand. These cars are placed between the locomotives and tank cars carrying hazardous material.
Here's one in carbon black service:





Wayne

[FCIN]

Looks like BNSF 808076 is an Airslide covered hopper that has been assigned to "buffer service" for tank trains. Here's another photo of it: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPic...id=3488484 On the ethanol trains that pass through my area, it's not uncommon to see covered hoppers, even rotary dump gons used as buffers.

[bdw9535]

Grabbed a few shots of Shore River switching Charlevoix Glass

Bruce

[ngauger]

That's cool, guys!! I didn't even notice the small hatches Yes, it was definitly being used as a buffer, between oil and/or chemical cars... Now it makes sense!! Thanks for the info!!!!!

FCIN, that's really neat to see another picture of the car.

[doctorwayne]

Looks like BNSF 808076 is an Airslide covered hopper that has been assigned to "buffer service" for tank trains.....

That's interesting. Did all Airslides use those small hatches? I thought that they were peculiar to only hoppers in carbon black service.

Wayne

[cn nutbar]

Looks like BNSF 808076 is an Airslide covered hopper that has been assigned to "buffer service" for tank trains.....

That's interesting. Did all Airslides use those small hatches? I thought that they were peculiar to only hoppers in carbon black service.

Wayne

What a coincidence---check the car in the lower left of this photo I took today

[FCIN]

That's interesting. Did all Airslides use those small hatches? I thought that they were peculiar to only hoppers in carbon black service.
Wayne

Yes, all the Airslide covered hoppers had/have (I still see plenty of them) the small roof hatches.

[MasonJar]

While most digital cameras can compensate for fluorescent or incandescent lighting, the light needs to be directed onto the subject to show detail well. The "flatness" of fluorescent light makes this difficult, especially if the subject is a locomotive or structure sitting on the layout or even on your workbench. Directed lighting is better, as would be sunlight - a good excuse for building a portable diorama which could be set-up near a window or even taken outdoors.

Wayne

You've hit the nail on the head here Wayne. It's not the type of light source (fluorescent vs incandescent) which can be compensated for on the camera or in post processing. It's the "source". Sunlight and your incandescent at the work bench are "point" sources, and create good shadows that reveal texture when the light falls across (in this case) the edges of the vertical wood cladding. The fluorescent fixtures create an even wash of light that behaves as if there is no single source, hence minimal shadows.

If you were to light the sides of the cars with an incandescent source pointed directly at 90°To the side of the car and at mid-car height, you'd achieve a similar effect to the fluorescent wash.

Andrew