Pipe loads


kenw

5th Generation Texian
Drill pipe is a staple around Houston, it's a common load coming in and out. Often hauled by train, I've seen it on regular flats, bulkhead flats, gondolas and even centerbeam flats.

In the interest of accurate modeling, here's a pic from earlier this week. Farther back in the train, there was some in a gondola. They're obviously planning to drill somewhere.....
The red on the ends are plastic thread protectors, caps that keep the external threads from being damaged (the other end has a female thread and may not have a thread protector). The white things are "toe-tags", used to identify the pipe; traceability is paramount: who made/reconditioned it, when, where, properties, test and inspection approvals, etc. It is bundled in 10s in this shot. Obviously this is new or reconditioned pipe heading out to be reused; drill pipe is very, very expensive and reconditioned pipe is very very common. Used pipe coming in to be reconditioned will be not be bundled, tagged nor (usually) have the thread protectors.

A simple and effective model scene might be to have a pipe yard on the layout: various sizes of tubing stacked flat on racks made of i-beams (never laying on the ground!), neatly and orderly and sorted by size (diameter), a few forklifts and a Walther's overhead crane over a track lead would suffice, often the office is a small building of Pikestuff or similar style, or even a trailer; altho some companies will have much larger offices. Most drill pipe is 30 to 33 feet in length and very thick-walled, other pipes such as for pipelines are in 20-30-40' lengths and range in diameter from 3" to 56" in diameter. Large pipeline pipe is usually stored on the ground and rarely stacked especially in the larger sizes. Leave room for a forklift to get to the pipe from the side.
 
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Interesting, thanks for sharing Ken, this would definitely make a nice little modeling spot, well okay maybe not so little, would definitely be a space filler :D
 
Drill Pipe

That's a real interesting use of a bulkhead flat. I've seen lots of drill pipe leaving the old Mannesmann Werke in Krefeld - destined for the North Sea offshore oil fields - when I lived in Germany, but it was always on flatcars (Flachwagen) or low-sided gondolas (Rungewagen) - never a bulkhead flat (Holztransportwagen).

Mit freundlichen Gruessen,

David
 



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