Midland News & Press Releases

Every rail-transport company works to ensure that their railcar fleets are outfitted with valves that enable them to deliver critical and high-value hazardous and non-hazardous bulk raw materials and finished commodities in the safest, most reliable and most responsible way. That's why Midland designed its Valve Remanufacturing & Repair Program to be an easy, secure, time-sensitive and cost-effective way to return old or damaged valves to like-new condition - complete with a new one-year manufacturer's warranty.

The Midland Gold Book is a comprehensive compilation of the products that Midland has designed, engineered, manufactured and is currently offering for use on railcars that transport hazardous and non-hazardous bulk products. The Gold Book contains technical drawings, parts lists and ordering information for the full range of models that are offered in 13 product categories.

The safety record for hazmat on the rails is excellent, but accidents still happen. How well are those responsible for safe hazmat transport, as well as first-responders, prepared?

As is the case with all liquid fuels, it is vitally important that proper fuel-handling techniques be practiced in order to prevent fuel contamination. This includes outfitting the rolling ethanol fleet with systems and components that are compatible with its handling characteristics, with failure to do so resulting in component degradation that can contaminate the fuel or lead to dangerous product leaks.

Midland is well aware that oftentimes the best, most cost-effective solution to an underperforming valve is not replacing it, but repairing or remanufacturing it. To that end, Midland has created its Valve Remanufacturing & Repair Program, with facilities dedicated to this program located at its headquarters in the Chicago suburb of Skokie, IL, and in Houston, TX.

Midland is dedicated to developing standard-setting valve and level-measurement device technology, and the new Top Transfer Ball Valve is the next part of this commitment.

Citing a forecast from the Federal Highway Administration, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported in July 2019 that total railroad freight shipments in the United States will rise from 17.8 billion in 2017 to an estimated 24.1 billion in 2040, an increase of 35%. Read about 3 potential risks when transporting hazardous materials by rail in Industrial Safety & Hygiene News

Citing a forecast from the US Federal Highway Administration (FHA), the Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported in October 2020 that total railroad freight shipments in the US will rise from 18.6bn tonnes in 2018 to an estimated 24.1bn tonnes by 2040, an increase of 30 per cent. Learn how Emergency Response Kits help to avoid potential risks when transporting hazardous materials by rail.

When paired together, the A-719-ML/A-190 Dual Valve System helps to provide protection against the release of railcar contents in the event of a roll-over accident. Should a railcar roll-over accident occur, the angle valve is designed to shear off, and the check valve becomes the primary seal, halting product flow.

Anhydrous ammonia, or NH3, is one of the most commonly used compressed liquefied gases in industrial manufacturing. It is also classified as a Toxic Inhalation Hazard (TIH)/Poison Inhalation Hazard (PIH), which can be highly dangerous if mishandled. With that in mind, the components in Midland’s Anhydrous Ammonia Fittings Package aim to deliver safety and performance advantages for NH3 transport via pressurized railcars.

While ethylene oxide (EO) is a basic compound in many commonly used products, it can be quite volatile. This colorless gas is flammable and highly reactive, and acute exposure to EO can lead to severe health hazards. These characteristics and their potential risks to humans and the environment requires EO to be handled with the utmost care during transport, much of which is performed via pressurized railcar.

A key link in the LPG production and supply chain are the railroads that transport the fuel to all points of the compass in the U.S. In fact, the 120-car LPG-laden unit trains passing through communities large and small across the country have become so ubiquitous that they have essentially become ambient noise.

OPW, a Dover company and a global leader in fluid-handling solutions, announced today that is has acquired the ISO Liquid Tank Container product line from Girard Equipment, Inc., of Vero Beach, FL. Going forward, OPW will manufacture the ISO Liquid Tank Container product line at OPW’s facility in Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province, China, with emphasis on increasing OPW’s presence and product portfolio in the Asia-Pacific, Latin American and European regions.

There are inherent risks that must be analyzed and mitigated when transporting liquefied petroleum gas, or LPG, via railcar. Perhaps the most “noteworthy” or “fear-inducing” risk in transporting LPG is the potential for deadly fires and explosions that can result during an accident or non-accidental release (NAR) incident that includes a breach in product containment.

It’s an unavoidable fact of railroad life that at some point, most unit trains – which can be 100 cars or longer – will pass through a heavily populated urban area while laden with dangerous or hazardous materials. While accidents that result in catastrophic leaks or spills of hazardous materials are extremely rare – and becoming even rarer, according to industry analysts – a rollover incident that occurs in an urban, population-dense area has the potential to adversely affect a large number of people.

In the fluid storage terminal industry, hundreds of product-transfer activities that take place on any given day carry with them the built-in risk of a product release occurring. Product releases, especially if the fluid product is deemed dangerous or hazardous, cannot be tolerated in any form or volume because they can cause injury to those administering the transfer process, along with damage to our environment.

Per its mission to protect people and the environment while also enhancing business performance, Midland Manufacturing developed a Pressure Relief Valve (PRV) pursuant to the DOT-117/TC-117 regulation.

The lifespan of valves that are used to control and contain bulk materials transported via railcar – whether liquid, gas or solid – is finite. As mechanical instruments, it is inevitable that one day they will begin to break down or outright fail, which will prevent them from adequately and reliably doing the job for which they have been tasked.

There are a number of ways that chlorine carriers can find themselves out of compliance, often through no fault of their own. To aid in the never-ending battle to stay compliant, many railcar component developers and suppliers like Midland have made a commitment to designing Advanced Chlorine Railcar Assembly equipment that addresses all of the FRA, PHMSA and DHS compliance needs of chlorine carriers.

Completely overhauling or replacing your railcar valves every few years can be a time-consuming and expensive process. This has led many railcar valve manufacturers to begin offering remanufacturing and repair programs in which customers can send valves that have been in the field back to the manufacturer for testing, inspection and cleaning.