Emptying Rail Cars with Vacuums

In the 1880s, freight cars became a popular way to transport agricultural products from the farms to the market. Transporting goods by rail remains one of the most cost and energy efficient ways to move bulk quantities of raw materials today. Modern freight cars are not only capable of containing a tremendous volume of goods such as sugar and limestone, but also hauling a great deal of weight – up to 120 tons!

While the freight rail network solved the problem of transporting goods to customers, emptying the sheer amount of material from the cars themselves posed another. The goods travel unpackaged, which means that they must either be dumped or vacuumed out. Some types of freight cars are designed with compartments that slope downwards, towards gates that open on the underside of the car. To unload one of these cars, the operator moves the car over a dumping pit and opens the gates.

A rather simple procedure, unloading freight cars in this manner invariably leaves some debris that must be cleaned out. Some materials such as limestone can crust and harden inside the freight cars, making it difficult to empty a load properly. The traditional way to prevent this situation is to have someone enter the car and clean it out using a simple shovel and bucket. As technology progressed, however, so have ways to keep rail cars clean. Today, the most efficient method of disposing residual material inside a freight car is to use a vacuum system.

At DeMarco, we offer industrial vacuum systems that will complete the job quickly and efficiently. The vacuums can easily be connected to a freight car with our flexible, abrasion resistant hose. Using an industrial vacuum not only eliminates the need for workers to expose themselves to potentially harmful dusts, but also gets the job done faster. DeMarco has been the preferred supplier of industrial vacuum systems to the railcar industry for over 40 years.

To learn more about DeMarco’s capabilities, please speak to one of our vacuum engineers today!