Two fire tests were conducted on 128 kiloliter, high pressure rail tank cars filled with liquefied petroleum gas. Both tank cars were exposed to an intense hydrocarbon fire after being outfitted with appropriate instrumentation. The instrumentation was monitored and its output recorded throughout the fire tests. To test the feasibility of insulating railroad tank cars to protect them from fire exposure, one of the cars was coated with a 0.318 cm thermal shield. A comparison of data conclusively shows that a thermal shield significantly alters the thermal response of a rail tank car in a fire environment.