Anybody know where I can find photo(s) of trains of subject vintage tank cars? I know there were many such trains during WWII to mitigate ocean tanker losses to German submarines, but there may have been photography restrictions for security.
I would think pre-or post-war photos should exist, but I haven’t found any yet despite several searches on the Web.
The cars with the 4 or 5-foot diameter domes, suitably weather-worn with a sheen of spilled oil down the sides are what I like. Photos of trains of these cars, either being pulled by steam (no diesel, please) or idle in a yard or at a refinery is what I’m looking for.
Thanks for the photo! Do you know the location and date? Besides being a 12 inches-to-the-foot enthusiast, I also model in HO in the '20s era. I’m currently at the decaling stage with a 5ft. dome car of 1918 vintage. I’m using Union Tank Line on this one, but I’ve got Texas Company (as in your photo) decals I plan to use on the next car I put together.
See if you can find a copy of “Steam Era Freight Cars Reference Manual, Volume Two: Tank Cars”, by Ted Culotta. I have Volume One, which deals with boxcars and automobile cars, and there are lots of useful prototype photos, along with background info on manufacturers, built dates, etc.
Since I posted this subject I’ve continued to search for resources and have found a terrific one at http://www.loc.gov/pictures. This is the Library of Congress’ website and has a trove of the photos I wanted and many more in the railroad subject area.
