The Greenbrier Cos.' tank-car classroom aims to bring safety, maintenance education directly to shippers
11/20/2025
By Bridget Dean, Associate Editor
The Greenbrier Cos. will bring hands-on tank-car safety and maintenance education to rail shippers via its new GBX Training Tank Car™ (GBX TTC), a mobile classroom hitting the tracks in spring 2026.
Greenbrier officials created the GBX TTC to address one of the company’s core principles: safety. Tank cars can be more complex to maintain and keep in safe working conditions than other types of rail cars. Younger fleet managers working for shippers and companies new to rail often have a gap in knowledge about tank-car safety and regulatory processes, says Tom Jackson, Greenbrier vice president of marketing.
Because tank cars can contain hazardous materials, the U.S. federal government requires tank cars to undergo an inspection and repair process known as requalification every 10 years. Unlike many other types of rail cars, tanks are primarily owned by the shippers themselves or by lessors, not the carriers. Many tank cars have parts that are commodity-specific, and they can be a major liability for railroads.
The GBX TTC is Greenbrier’s response to the increasing requests from its customers for information about tank-car ownership and maintenance, Jackson says. He proposed the idea of reusing one of the company’s DOT-117 tank cars that had fallen into disrepair for training purposes. While Greenbrier invites fleet owners on a case-by-case basis into company shops to learn about repair and the requalification process, the demand for formal training about tank cars remained high.
Building the TTC
Jackson began the project by researching existing safety and maintenance training programs. In March, he toured multiple tank car training sites in the industry and learned how other companies train their employees about tank-car maintenance and safety. He picked the best practices to implement in the GBX TTC. Then came the challenge of renovating Greenbrier’s existing tank car into the envisioned mobile classroom. At the time, the tank car was sitting unused at a since-sold Greenbrier facility in Portland, Oregon.
“We had to get it out of Portland, and we had to figure out who was going to upgrade it,” says Jackson.
Greenbrier has rail-car repair and manufacturing facilities across the globe; it was Greenbrier’s Grupo Industrial Monclova (GIMSA) tank and covered hopper car manufacturing facility that took on the project. Among other renovations, the GIMSA team added lighting and heating, replaced valves and manway covers and repainted the tank. The renovation took months, Jackson says. Once completed, Greenbrier moved the GBX TTC to its rail-car maintenance facility in Cleburne, Texas, and set into action the plans for operating training sessions out of the unit.
Hands-on training to boost safety education
Back row, left to right: Greenbrier employees Matt McMahan, Jeff Bobst and Ronnie Preston. Front row, left to right: Abtrex Industries Inc. employees Charles Blood, Jesus Gomez, Samuel Soria and Francisco Torres.The Greenbrier Cos. Greenbrier already had tank car training courses for its own employees. These were adapted into three separate courses to meet shippers’ needs: Tank Car 101, Qualification and Maintenance of Tank Cars and Tank Car Rules and Regulation. Greenbrier’s tank car experts can also create custom training and adapt as needed to suit specific commodity needs.
The intensity of the courses can be adjusted, too. Greenbrier can set up full day or multiday training sessions for customers, but the company also plans on bringing the GBX TTC to trade shows. For those events, training sessions can “be pared into 30 to 60-minute increments, almost more of a Q&A,” says Adriana Smith, Greenbrier manager, corporate communications and sustainability.
These training sessions will help ensure shippers are proactive about maintenance and know how to keep their tanks in safe working conditions, she adds.
Smith, part of the Greenbrier team that will promote the GBX TTC as a resource, visited the Cleburne shop this fall to see the unit up close and learn more about it in the same way a customer might. The tank car technicians showed her the different parts of the unit, what they’re for and how often they need to be replaced. Learning from those experts was helpful in understanding the technical aspects and necessary safety protocols involved with a tank car, says Smith.
Since announcing the GBX TTC’s availability in October, Greenbrier has received many requests from shippers interested in seeing the tank car and sending employees to training sessions, Jackson says. He’s eager to finalize details and get the GBX TTC rolling in spring.
“It’s always about safety — safety with our employees and also the communities we operate in,” he adds. “So, if our equipment is rolling around North America, we want it to be as safe as possible.”
A rendering shows the interior of the GBX TTC. The tank car was renovated to serve as a mobile classroom. The Greenbrier Cos.
