Question about ethanol trains

Hi all,
Recently I downloaded a movie of a railfan, who was waiting in a station for Amtrak to come.
He filmed a NS ethanol train who was passing the station.
On the front and at the end of this maybe hundred ethanol tankers unit train there was a NS boxcar.
Question, why are the boxcars for ?

Thanks,
Paul

 

Paul:

Because ethanol is a hazardous material there has to be at least one "buffer"(non-hazardous car) between the locomotives and the ethanol tanks. This buffer car can be any type except: another hazardous car either mty or ld, a car with a mechanical heating/cooling ability ie a reefer, a shiftable load, or an occupied caboose or passenger car.

Barry

 

Thanks Barry, that's so logical I didn't see it.

Paul

 

There is an ethanol distillery just west of here. The grain arrives in unit grain trains of 100+ cars. The Ethanol and the dried mash is shipped out by the local freight. Some of the ethanol also goes by barge. There are usually about 20+ tank cars of ethanol in the local freight train. The ethanol tankcars are usually near the end of the train.