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black hydrochloric acid tankcars Locos and rolling stock
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Regular poster 222 posts kh25 Regular poster 222 posts
kh25
I'm trying to find pictures of black hydrochloric acid tankcars. Are they only painted white and are they always lettered hydrochloric acid?
Mark Kingsbury
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cslewis Regular poster 363 posts
cslewis

Acid cars

kh25,

I suppose it's all going to depend on the shipment size, the era your modeling and other factors.

 

Present day standards, (what I found):

http://www.gatx.com/wps/wcm/connect/GATX/GATX_SITE/Home/Rail+North+America/Products/Equipment+Types/Tank/Acid+and+Specialty/Acid/

According to gatx the exterior paint is supposed to be resistant to acid, but they don't mention exterior color. They do show a white tank car for the product though.

The gif file is from gatx  Apparently the general service tank cars can be used, & are black.

http://www.getfilings.com/sec-filings/120321/GATX-CORP_8-K/c66746c66746z0019.gif

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NFPA_704 current Placard for HCI

Also see the "safety section" for additional placarding of HCI located further down on the same page.

Written: 1982 on handling

http://www.jsia.gr.jp/data/handling_02e.pdf

 

Charlie

 

 
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AzBaja Prolific poster 2,086 posts
AzBaja

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AzBaja
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I enjoy the smell of melting plastic in the morning.  The Fake Model Railroader, subpar at best.
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blindog10 Prolific poster 3,329 posts
blindog10

most are white nowadays

HCL tanks are usually all white or white with a black band, although I've shot a few black ones. Off the top of my head I don't recall seeing any black ones recently. They are not all that common to begin with. The other commodity shipped in the same basic tank car, size and fittings-wise, is ferric chloride. Those are generally white with oxide red center bands, although all-white used to be common and a few are all-oxide red. You do not want to mix HCL and ferric chloride up. Or I should say you don't want to put HCL in a car that was last used to carry FC. FC is very staining and hard to clean. As for finding photos on-line, the RailCarPhotos.com site might have some noted as being in HCL service, but you have to sign up and log in to look at photos. Other websites that are easier to use like Fallen Flags don't note the commodity. Scott Chatfield
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DrJolS Frequent poster 625 posts
DrJolS

HCl does not have a smell??!!

When I was in high school my chemistry teacher asked me to pour a bottle of HCl down the sink. The stuff had a very strong and unbearable stink. So also did any hydrochloric acid that I used in later life as a professional chemist. Anyone who would confuse HCl with water would be just as likely to drink urine if his eyes weren't open.

Professional kvetch: HCL is not a proper label. Hydrogen chloride is HCl, and its solution in water,  called "hydrochloric acid," is also written as HCl. The upper case "L" is an abuse of proper nomenclature.

DrJolS, Ph.D. in chemistry

 
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Logger01 Prolific poster 1,786 posts
Logger01

DrJolS thanks for correction

As noted on the hydrocloric acid (HCl) MSDS ( that is Material Safety Data Sheet):

Odor: strong, pungent

Ken K

gSkidder.GIF 
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