rettop wrote:Driving on the Skyway road as it approached the Dan Ryan, I saw a tanker truck fueling a set of NS road engines. This was near the container/trailer loading yard along the Skyway, this is the first time I have seen this (I finally saw a plane leave the Gary airport--what a day). Anyways ,where does NS fuel the engines heading for the East coast?
Standard Railfan wrote:Fixed locomotive fueling systems have mostly gone by the wayside. The cost of installing a regulations compliant fueling system is enormous. Most railroads have restricted fueling systems to locations where large numbers locomotives are serviced and/or are based for crew calls.
In other locations like intermodal yards, and even some engine terminals, railroads employ Direct Truck Loading (DTL). The idea is to avoid the costs and liability associated with fixed systems, improve flexibility, and avoid the inventory carrying costs of a fuel inventory.
CSX_CO wrote:If anything, the opposite is true. Fuel at fixed locations to avoid the cost of buying at outlying terminals through a truck. A lot of EPA regulations when not fueling at a set "pad" and God forbid any gets spilled.
For the longest time NS and CSX avoided fueling in Illinois like the plague. Even the IHB would ferry their power across the state line to Gibson to fuel to avoid the taxes.
Standard Railfan wrote:I can understand the "Don't fuel in Illinois" mindset. I wonder how many mainline fixed fueling systems are in Illinois.
Pixl wrote:I wonder why Illinois or any other state can tax railroads for fuel when they don't use the roads. You could say those taxes are used to build highways that competing trucks drive on.
Pixl wrote:I wonder why Illinois or any other state can tax railroads for fuel when they don't use the roads. You could say those taxes are used to build highways that competing trucks drive on.
GreatLakesRailfan wrote:Pixl wrote:I wonder why Illinois or any other state can tax railroads for fuel when they don't use the roads. You could say those taxes are used to build highways that competing trucks drive on.
Road taxes aren't the only taxes you pay on fuel. The sales tax in parts of Illinois, and especially in certain parts of Cook County, is quite high as well. And speaking of Cook County, it wouldn't surprise me at all if there are localized off road fuel taxes or something to that nature applied to fuel use as well.
EWRice wrote:This makes me wonder:
Is there/was there any railroad that had there own fuel trucks? The only way I see this as beneficial is if there were two or more yards in close proximity, that saw enough traffic to justify it.
EWRice wrote:This makes me wonder:
Is there/was there any railroad that had there own fuel trucks? The only way I see this as beneficial is if there were two or more yards in close proximity, that saw enough traffic to justify it.
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