[PRCo] Re: Non-Traction Question for Those Who Know

[Fred Schneider]

I am assuming that they could hold any gas.   For years the only gas  
sold in Lancaster was by-product from coal ... natural gas did not  
enter the mains until the 1950s.    Perhaps they were common near  
plants that manufactured propane or other forms of manufactured gas.

How did they work?   The upper half of the tank simply rolled up and  
down on the side rails and its weight supplied the pressure on the  
gas that caused it to flow through the gas mains.   I might also  
suspect, Ken, that there was some leakage where the upper or floating  
(weighted) lid sealed with the lower tank.   This may have raised  
environmental and safety concerns.  Within the past year my own brain  
observed that I had not seen any of those tanks in years.   Perhaps  
there is national legislation forbidding them just like the  
legislation forbidding steel underground gasoline storage tanks.

I keyed in 'natural gas storage' into Google and didn't come up with  
anything viable to answer your question ... nothing but more  
questions.   I did not find any mention of the obsolete two-part  
tanks you asked about.  I got the feeling that a lot of gas today is  
probably stored in liquified form for safety reasons.   You may want  
to explore that avenue.   Remember that only gases or vapors burn.    
You need to first vaporize anything ... wood, paper, aluminium,  
gasoline, liquified natural gas, candle wax,anything ... in order to  
get it to ignite.   Therefore my instincts are telling me that we got  
away from storing fuels in a gaseous form for safety reasons.   If we  
can keep gas cold enough that it remains in a liquid state, it is  
much safer.

fws3



On Jan 31, 2008, at 7:29 AM, Ken & Tracie wrote:

> First off, the attached image was taken in Milwaukee, not Western
> Pennsylvania.
> Secondly, this is a non-traction question, but I suspect some of  
> the old
> timers and engineering experts can give me an answer to a life long
> question.
>
> How did these collapsible gas (not gasoline) tanks work?  What kept  
> them
> from leaking as they lowered or were filled?
>
> Also, could they hold any sort of gas, i.e., natural gas, propane,  
> coke
> generated gas, etc.?
>
> Thanks in advance for your replies.
>
> K.
>
>
> -- Attached file removed by Ecartis and put at URL below --
> -- Type: image/jpeg
> -- Size: 66k (67733 bytes)
> -- URL : http://lists.dementia.org/files/pittsburgh-railways/ 
> rapidtransitline001.jpg
>
>
>