What’s with the new rail cars?!

Did anyone notice some odd-looking rail cars on the train tracks along I-35 this morning? They appear to be of particularly odd shapes and not like anything I’ve seen before in the area. Any info from PDD? I was driving to work so I was unable to snap a quick photo. They sure look mysterious like some type of submarine or large underground tanks.

6 Comments

  1. cb1037 cb1037 on December 20, 2013 at 9:49 am

    Those are some sort of industrial equipment used in refining oil. Probably going to the Alberta tar sands.

  2. CLeTa CLeTa on December 20, 2013 at 12:04 pm

    @cb1037 Thanks! Alas, I was hoping it would be something more exciting.

  3. piker piker on December 20, 2013 at 12:51 pm

    I have it from good sources that those are filled with a delicious maple syrup/ cocaine mix straight from Nova Scotia! However, they’re all destined for the UP as tourists go wild for that stuff.

  4. Paul Lundgren Paul Lundgren on December 21, 2013 at 10:12 am

    From the Duluth News Tribune:
    Rockets? Tanks? What were those cylinders?

    Adele Yorde, spokeswoman for the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, said the strange-looking items were “pressure vessels” bound for the tar sands region of Alberta, Canada.

    The vessels are used during the refining process as heavy crude oil is turned into gas, diesel and other products. Simply put, they’re used to keep liquids or gases at a pressure significantly different than the surrounding atmosphere.

  5. piker piker on December 21, 2013 at 12:40 pm

    I learned that actually, these pressurized passenger compartments are to be used to transport families to the new undersea colonies off the coast of Alaska! They’ve been in testing in Lake Superior for a few years.

  6. piker piker on December 22, 2013 at 5:44 pm

    Oops, I’ve been corrected… They’re full of toothpaste.

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