Latest Tank Car Build

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

https://www.flickr.com/photos_user.gne?path=&nsid=53243414%40N00&page=&details=1

Alco models did this car in brass in 1977. I have one and boy is it crude! I changed the top walk from solid to see through, plumbed the brakes and filed down the stanchion tops where the rail went through. The trucks were changed and paint and decals applied. It still had very over sized weld lines. So, I decided after 39 years to build a correct one. The core is the Atlas LPG tank body. I had to change the slanted barrel and short one that it attaches to, to one long slanted one. I had to build the saddles and bolsters from styrene. The end platforms were also scratched from styrene. l have a long way to go, but I have done quite a bit. I hope you enjoy my effort. There are photos of the brass one also.

Thanks for looking, Bobby

2

I was beginning to wonder where you were lately…

Nice work so far. I like how you use those ribs for the transition, good technique to keep in mind.

3

Thank you Southgate. Yep, at 72 I’m still kicking. Not as high as I use to, but! Regards, Bobby

4

There’s little that’s more satisfying for me in building than doing it yourself. I finished building four Walthers tank cars and they were equally frustrating and enjoyable. Nice in changing the car body and other modifiications.

Such a shame we can’t request more companies to produce tank cars to operate in the early 1980s.

5

Yes, I love to scratchbuild and kitbash. Thanks. Bobby

6

Bobby:

Very nice work! Beautiful proportions (I guess you can thank the protoyype for that) and excellent fitting.

Dave

7

Thank you Dave. I thought it had character and a different look. Regards, Bobby

8

Reading this thread reminded me of something I saw while working at Mobil’s (now ExxonMobil) Beaumont Texas refinery back in the late 1980s. Please excuse me for going off on a tangent here…

At one of the loading racks, there were a couple of the biggest tankcars I’ve ever seen. They were ACFX 4 truck (8 axles) in petroleum service (obviously) and I believe were 85 ft long.

I recall reading later on that they were “too big”, and were in very restricted service (gulf coast area) and eventually retired.

9

Is this one of the cars: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=436723

I saw it last week when I took the grand children to the St Louis Museum of Transport. I hadn’t been there in years and had forgotten just how big this monster is.

10

Bobby

How did you wrap the finish aroundthe slanted/sloped part between the main tank and the end ?

YGW

11

I made a paper template to get the correct shapes, top and bottom. Then I cut the shape as close as possible. I glued the middle to the top rib, then bent and glued and wraped with rubber bands. Then I ran glue along the edges. Regards, Bobby

12

The car in St Louis is a one off, and is the largest tank ever built. The second largest was at the Galveston Transportation musium and was floated off its trucks by a hurricane and cut up for scrap. Bobby