Railroad tank cars are provided that include an inner tank, an outer tank, and tank to tank clearance between the inner tank and the outer tank. Insulation and spacers can be located within the tank to tank clearance. The inner tank can shift within the outer tank, and spacers can crush, under significant force loading, such as impact forces generated during a collision or derailment. The inner tank, insulation, spacers, and outer tank thus form an energy absorbing system that reduces the likelihood that the inner tank will be breached, and that a hazardous material contained therein will be released, under such conditions.

A system for preventing manway cover gasket over-compression utilizes machined surfaces on the top of eye bolt lugs on the side of a manway nozzle, machined compression stops on the periphery of the cover, and a specified distance between the top of the eye bolt lug and the manway nozzle edge to engage the stops at a predetermined amount of gasket compression. Force is distributed over an increased contact surface area between the manway cover and the bolt lugs to ensure that deformation occurs preferentially in the eye bolts before any other component in the manway cover system.

A valve interlock system for a railcar including a valve stem locking subsystem that includes a coupling device rotatably coupled to the valve stem. The coupling device is substantially stationary in the longitudinal direction and rotatably translatable about a longitudinal axis and defines an engagement slot thereon. The subsystem also includes a stationary support member extending toward the coupling device in a transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and includes a locking member that is transversely translatable and complimentary with the engagement slot. The subsystem also includes a biasing device coupled to the locking member that increases an engagement bias as the locking member is transversely translated away from the engagement slot. The subsystem further includes a valve operator assembly that includes a longitudinally and rotatably translatable body configured to regulate the slot engagement bias as a function of a longitudinal position of the body.

A valve interlock system for a railcar including a valve stem locking subsystem that includes a coupling device rotatably coupled to the valve stem. The coupling device is substantially stationary in the longitudinal direction and rotatably translatable about a longitudinal axis and defines an engagement slot thereon. The subsystem also includes a stationary support member extending toward the coupling device in a transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction and includes a locking member that is transversely translatable and complimentary with the engagement slot. The subsystem also includes a biasing device coupled to the locking member that increases an engagement bias as the locking member is transversely translated away from the engagement slot. The subsystem further includes a valve operator assembly that includes a longitudinally and rotatably translatable body configured to regulate the slot engagement bias as a function of a longitudinal position of the body.

A removable independent steam jacket for a bottom outlet valve of a railroad tank car able to connect to an existing bottom outlet valve, with or without an integral steam jacket, in a field environment without having to take the tank car in for repairs having a partially annular hollow base with a rectangular cross-section and a plurality of pipes connected to the base extending away from the bottom of the base. The removable steam jacket also has a plurality of mounting brackets connected to the bottom the base for installing and removing it from the bottom outlet valve.

A new method of manufacturing a railroad car tank head having the steps of providing a circular blank of steel plate material, cold-forming the circular blank to form an intermediate ellipsoidal dish, cold-forming a peripheral flange region of the intermediate ellipsoidal dish to form a flanged ellipsoidal dish, and heat treating the flanged ellipsoidal dish. The heat treatment may be either a thermal stress relieving heat treatment or a normalizing heat treatment. The two cold-forming steps may be carried out at room temperature. The present invention provides a method of making a railroad car tank head that is more efficient than prior methods, avoids the challenges of hot-forming and single-stage cold-forming, is easily adaptable to different tank head diameters using the same forming equipment, and yields a railroad car tank head that meets safety standards.

A railroad car including a plurality of penetration resistant and protective structures including a penetration resistant and protective underframe, penetration resistant and protective first end, second end, and center bulkheads, penetration resistant and protective first, second, third, and fourth side walls, and protective first and second roof hatches, all configured to protect internal cylinder assemblies, the pipes that communicate the gas from the cylinders of the cylinder assemblies, and the safety critical valves, regulators, and other equipment connected to such cylinders and pipes of the railroad car in an accident (such as a derailment, crash and/or roll-over).

A railroad car including a plurality of penetration resistant and protective structures including a penetration resistant and protective underframe, penetration resistant and protective first end, second end, and center bulkheads, penetration resistant and protective first, second, third, and fourth side walls, and protective first and second roof hatches, all configured to protect internal cylinder assemblies, the pipes that communicate the gas from the cylinders of the cylinder assemblies, and the safety critical valves, regulators, and other equipment connected to such cylinders and pipes of the railroad car in an accident (such as a derailment, crash and/or roll-over).

A ball valve assembly for a railroad tank car is disclosed herein. The ball valve assembly may comprise a ball valve removably coupled to an end of a fittings flange of a railroad tank car, a dual thread retainer assembly affixed to an end of the ball valve opposite the fittings flange, and an anti-rotation assembly attached to the fittings flange. The dual thread retainer assembly may comprise a retainer affixed to the end of the ball valve opposite the fittings flange and a cap removably affixed to an end of the retainer opposite the ball valve. The anti-rotation assembly may comprise a base affixed to the fittings flange and a fork secured to the base that is configured to prevent rotation of the ball valve and the dual thread retainer assembly with respect to the fittings flange.

A railroad tank car formed from steel alloy plates having improved toughness and puncture resistance. The steel alloy plates include a steel alloy including in wt. %: C: 0.1-0.15; Mn: 1.0-1.65; Si: 0.15-0.40; Al: 0.015-0.06; Mo: 0.1-0.3; Ni: 0.1-0.25; Nb: 0.015-0.045; Ti: up to 0.02; Cr: up to 0.22; V: up to 0.08; Cu: up to 0.35; P: max 0.025; S: max 0.015; and N: 0.004-0.01. The alloy plates may have been normalized for 30 minutes at 900 C. The alloy plates may have a tensile strength of at least 560 MPa; a yield strength of at least 345 MPa; a total elongation of at least 22%; a CVN impact toughness of at least 135.5J at 34.4 C.; a CVN impact toughness of at least 122J at 45.5 C. The alloy plates may have a ferrite-bainite microstructure, with 10% or less pearlite. The alloy plates of the inventive railroad tank car may have an absence of any banded ferrite-pearlite/martensite structure.