An obvious question: why were the tank cars cleaned? The need is
obvious if it carries foods or if the commodity is changed, but in most
cases of tank cars used by refineries I would think the car carried the
same thing over and over, so why bother cleaning it?

Dave Soderblom
Baltimore MD

David Soderblom asks:

An obvious question: why were the tank cars cleaned? The need is
obvious if it carries foods or if the commodity is changed, but in most
cases of tank cars used by refineries I would think the car carried the
same thing over and over, so why bother cleaning it?

You're right that cars carrying the same thing over and over weren't
cleaned unless they required tank repairs of some sort. But many tank cars
were operated on short term leases and the commodities they carried changed
fairly often. In the case of such loads as motor fuels, lubricating oils,
etc. even a little contamination from previous loads was unacceptable.

Richard H. Hendrickson
Ashland, Oregon 97520

Dave,
All of what was put in the car would not always come out. Corn sweetener
comes to mind. Molasses?
Clark

David Soderblom wrote: