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Old 1st September 2020, 08:10
aussiesteve's Avatar
aussiesteve aussiesteve is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Bathurst
Posts: 577
Will be interesting to squiz the safety compliance of yer Pommy fuel pots.
Petroleum no longer treks by metal here in NSW.
It has been on rubber tyres for yonks.
Our "oil" trains were interesting things to hog.
The pots did have baffles, but upon stopping you could cop the shudder surge through the train from the liquid sloshing back and forth.
You would struggle up hills and then really bolt down hills.
Yes, there were some derailments here with our "oil" trains.
And, I know of one incident when a fire occurred.
There was also an incident of train separation which could have resulting in catastrophe.
That got quickly swept under the carpet.
The Lac Megantic fuel train derailment and bleve in Canada is probably the worst such accident.
Though, the Ruskies did attempt a repeat performance a couple of months later.
Of note was the fact that our NSW oil pots were of the same safety code as those used in Canada.
The USA FRA had banned that type of fuel pot some years earlier.
The general reason for the loss of fuel by rail here in NSW was due to the cost of employment at fuel depots.
A large work force was necessary to be on hand when a fuel train arrived for unloading.
Whereas, today, fuel big rigs can arrive at staggered intervals and the big rig driver unloads it himself.
So, sack all of the now unnecessary fuel depot staff.
Steve.
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