It is the "corn crib", built at the turn of the century by my family to store corn for the winter in central Arkansas. That's the north side and it is covered with moss.
Portions of that property were homesteaded by my family.
That was my first thought, quickly dismissed when you think of the environment of train air systems. The cars sit with the lines open to the air, and I can't imagine the compressor system on a train has a bunch of filters and moisture traps. Just make the system as robust as possible, self purging, and dirt simple.
Have to agree with that. And during the course of any one trip each car may be switched hundreds of times before reaching final destinations. Some times the couplings drag in the dirt while switching.
I have used shop air for testing on trucks for years with no adverse affects. Shop air is regularly maintained to a fairly high standard to prevent the moisture from destroying the shop equipment and tools. If you are truly worried about it, fabricate a water separator/filter in the line. After use, check the condition of the filter.
Air will be air as far as a stand alone car is concerned. The valve block has it's own filter separator. The brake system operates at 90 psig. You will need a bit more air compressor than you might think to achieve this with volume in your reservoir being the most critical aspect. Use an oil water separator on your compressor and the reservoir; clean dry air is important. I'm not going to assume anything but are you preparing for a single car air brake test per FRA guidance?
All tests are done on operating vehicle. This is subway rail car.
no test, the problem is that this activity is going on in carhouse uncontrolled...
Instread of isolating parking brakes they try to prevent them from applying [fail safe] by pumping air into main reservoir, this is after the filtration system.
Brake control units downstream do not have additional filter/water separator.
Technically I can agree with you that over an unknown period of time and an unknown number of applications you could contaminate this side of the air system to some degree. I'm a locomotive guy and to tell you the truth we would never move any equipment, especially in a shop environment, under the conditions that am understanding. The length of the safety violation citation would be published in volumes not pages. I don't hide under the safety umbrella when I don't want to do something but some kind of car mover would be a much better choice to spot equipment that may not be operational. Work safe, work smart, live long and prosper.
Please make me a little smarter. Do I understand that maintenance personnel are using shop air to release the spring applied "parking brake" in order to move rail cars? Or are they just using this technique to perform some service on the cars? If they are moving the cars, I would be curious to now what is moving the cars, and what does it have for braking power to stop a car once in motion?
If on the other hand, this is just done for maintenance on a stationary car, then I can see your point in being concerned over the air quality. It seems to me that you are saying that there is some filtration existing on the car that they are bypassing. If they can apply air downstream of the filter, then they should be able to apply air upstream of the filter. Or am I off in left field?
it is done on stationary car, attached to winch mover. The issue is there is no fitting before Air Dryer/Filter and it cannont take full flow through one pasage due to it has to switch passes to regenerate silicagel fill. It only operates when car is powered.
49 CFR 238 - BUT AGAIN - contact the local MP&E Inspector. If he is worth some percentage of his salary he/she will be able to give you some good advice and help keep you safe and out of trouble.
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"The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark." -- Michelangelo
Air Brakes Safety
Re: AIr Brakes Safety
