Hello all,
I am modeling the the 1960’s era and am interested in recommendations for tank cars used for transporting LPG, liquid agricultural fertilizer, and food products (corn syrup, etc.). This means that tank cars built in the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s could be used.
Any suggestions as to what models (and hobby manufacturers) would be appropriate would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you. I appreciste any help you can provide.
Curt Goff
Th September issue of MR has an excellent piece on prototype cars that you should be able to cross reference to available models.
Will
Life Like proto makes 8000 and 10,000 gallon uninsulated tanks, appropriate for syrups, chemicals and petroleum products. They’ll soon be releasing a 10,000 gallon insulated tank (yes, even after the Walthers buyout).
Intermountain has different prototype 8000 and 10,000 gallon cars.
Tichy has a “USRA” 10,000 gallon tank. It’s a nice kit, but only ONE car was ever built to the USRA tank car standard (with some work, it can be used to represent a CN prototype).
Atlas has a 11,000 gallon tank in both pressurized and non pressurized versions.
Sunshine has resin kits for at least 10 different tank cars.
As for more modern 1960s stuff, beats me; I’m a steam guy!
Proto 2000, Red Caboose,Intermoutain and Atlas make very good tank cars for those specific eras.Check their web sites and your lhs to get correct build dates for cars. The only thing by the sixties,ribbed back wheels were outlawed, some models, P2K have them,but that’s a simple switch , if you so desire…
Re: Proto2000 8000 gallon tanks… Look really nice, but are a pain to build! two recommendations:
Try the “Timesaver” version if you can get it. Some of the tricky sub assemblies are already done for you.
Forget the plastic grab irons and get some metal replacements.
When they are done, they look great and run very well…!
Hope that helps.
Andrew
Food products, corn syrup etc in 1950s typically in non-pressurized tanks with expansion domes. These are the large domes only a bit smaller in daimeter than the main part of the tank inself. AAR class TM. Product not considered hazardous, could be handled without danger in older cars, often riveted tanks in 1950s, even 1960s.
LPG (almost?) always in pressurized tanks. Much smaller “manway” on car, not actually a dome although it looks like a small dome. AAR class TP. In 1950, these cars were used primarily for pressurized and highly volatile loads. TMs sometimes used on petroleum load such as fuel oil considered “combustible” but not “inflammable”. Today, nearly all tank cars I see are pressurized rather than having large expansion domes.
I am not sure about tankcar for ammoniated fertilizer.
If I remember correctly, general service tankcars outnumber pressure tankcars.
Thanks to all who replied. I now have information I can use to check on available models.
Curt Goff
Athearn also makes transition era tankcars. They may not be as accurate as the others but they are cheap and close enough, unless you are a rivet counter.
Another bit of trivia: Corn syrup was not a major player in the sweetener business in the mid-20th Century. Vegatable oil would have been a more likely commodity for tank cars. Corn syrup did not “take off” until the mid-1970s. Prior to that time frame, Beet sugar was the main source of food sweetener. Gondols, hoppers, and box cars would be the modes of transport (box cars for the finished product).
Ps. Corn syrup products are a major reason why Weight Watchers is so successful.
Since this is the prototype information forum, I feel free to make this comment:
Athearn cars are (almost) a complete joke. None are really close to ANY known real car. The tank cars are expecially bad, and don’t look like ANY tank car ever built.
Athearn freight cars are about as realistic as Homer Simpson.
homer simpson, good one, roundhouse made some tank cars also, they may work if you can find them
I don’t know much about transition era cars, but I still say that if a person is not a rivet counter, maybe I should have added freight car fan, that these cars will be close enough for that person.
I built 3 of them so far - can never find the Timesaver versions. The first one so frustrated me (after building some Branchline Blueprint cars - so it wasn;t like I jumped from Accurail to these) that I put it aside, it was months til i came back to it. In the meantime I picke dup another one and had another go. The key to building them is to DRILL OUT all the holes and use a sharp FRESH #11 blade to cut the grabs off the sprue - a nipper is too big here. I also figured out to alter the assembly order and put the tank on BEFORE attempting to install the straps and brackets - it’s actually easier to slip them in afterwards rather than that ‘work quickly’ part of the instructions. Something else I did out of order too, to make it easier. Seach the forum for where I posted pictures of mine, it’s ben a while now. After I had some success with that, and also sicne I didn’t break a single grab, I had spares for the first one I had laid aside - got that one out and it almost fell together. So I bought a third - the third one I put together in under 2 hours. I’m still looking for a few more - the one I had I didnt notice until after I assembled it that it has a repack and pressure test date of 1962, past my era! The other two are perfect.
–Randy
I’ll accept that Eric. And Athearn cars ARE reliable and inexpensive. But if Curt didn’t care at least a little about the looks of his freight cars, he wouldn’t have asked the question.
It takes all sorts of folks to make this hobby work, and I sort of take offence to the term rivet counter. Most people who just want to have fun in the hobby use the term as a four letter word, and use it liberally on these forums. But you hardly ever hear such overt bashing from the proto guys.
I did not mean “rivet counter” to be an insult, I was trying to say that unless he wants all of details to be right, he probably would not care. If it is a type of freight car I like, I can be a “rivet counter” also. For example the roof on Athearn’s 57’ mechanical reefer annoys me. Why is it flat in the middle? It should be a constant curve. If the roof were accurate, it had separate ladders, and an optional Hydra-Cushion cylinder, it would be an excellant model. However, most of the time I would say I fall into the catagory of “rivet estimator”.
actually the roof on athearns 57 foot refer is accurate,the roof curves then has flat top,the ribs on the roof are wrong, but profiles’ correct, the ladders are livable, and details west,or detail associates, I believe make a hydro-frame that should work, it’s one of athearns cars that is a very close, semi-accurate model.
All of the photographs I have seen of the late model PCF mechanical reefers, the roof has a constant curve. The rib patten is incorrect for R-70-21 through R-70-25 classes as well as the second order of R-70-20s. It seem like it is correct for the first order of R-70-20s.
Notice that there the middle is flat on the ends, however, it quickly becomes a constant curve as the roof progresses toward the middle of the car. This is consistent with the photograph of a new PCF reefer in “Pacific Fruit Express, 2nd Edition”
not having seen the athearn car to compare your photos, the athearn car is very close to the r70-20’s, closer than most athearn cars are to prototypes,
I will agree with that.