On my why home from work today, the electric fan in my car
stopped working. This caused my car to overheat and left me
walking to a phone (cellphone was dead).
I walked by a local chemical plant. The train tracks that led into it
were close to the road, and there were a few freight cars sitting
empty.
I looked them over and noticed how rusted and dirty everything
looked. The couplings looked like they hadn't been used in 30
years, the hoses looked rotted.
I know these cars are used often: I see them going in and out
almost every day. I don't see how they could be safe.
What kind of safety requirements must be met with trains? How
often do they get checked? From what I saw, these things should
be put out of service.
Don't the operators have to check the cars out before moving
them?
Just wondering.
