coal cars Archives - SMART Union

As reported in E&E’s ClimateWire, a Houston-based, billion-dollar coal plant will soon have the largest carbon dioxide “capture and sequestration” system ever constructed within an existing coal plant. The new technology will prevent carbon dioxide emissions from seeping into the environment through a sophisticated “capture system, which will filter out 90 percent of the carbon dioxide, along with particulates, sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides.” The project is on schedule, and the system is slated to be up and running by the end of this year. Read the complete article by E&E reporter, Umair Irfan, here.

Tags coal cars, coal environmental impact, coal industry, coal transport, Freight rail, future of coal and transportation, new technologies in coal industry, TD coal freight, Transportation unions

oil-train-rail Thousands of rail tank cars roll through the cities, suburbs and rural areas of East Tennessee day and night, moving chemicals and energy products desperately needed by a variety of industries that provide thousands of jobs throughout the region.

The commodities these tank cars carry are wide and varied, almost a who’s who of the chemical industry. And yes, some of them are dangerous.

A recent CSX tank train rolling through the crossing on Liberty Street at Middlebrook Pike offered a virtual montage of commodities shipped regularly by rail through Knoxville: LP gas, hot molten sulfur, isopropyl alcohol, piperidine and more, all identified by their four-digit hazmat code numbers displayed in a diamond-shaped sign on each car’s side.

Read more from the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Tags coal cars, CSX, hazmat

coal_car Motorists’ wait time at U.S. rail crossings may double as CSX Corp. hooks trains together to boost efficiency amid plunging demand for coal shipments.

Bulk cargo is the latest focus in CSX’s effort to improve productivity. Getting more cars behind the locomotives is one way to do that — even if a longer, heavier load spends more time on the tracks.

“We’re actually combining two long trains” in some coal markets, Chief Executive Officer Michael Ward said in an interview Wednesday, Oct. 14. “Some of the trains can get to a couple of miles long.”