Hello everyone,
I have noticed that some tank cars of propane are labeled as non-odorized, why would they ship this way? I would think for safety all would be shipped with the odorant in there. Just wondering. Thanks
Hi. Hank Hill could probably tell you more than you want to know about this subject but I will shed a little (very little) light on it. About 40% of the propane consumed in this country is not for use a fuel but is sold as a feed stock to the chemical industry and is used for a variety of other industrial applications. There is also some sort of government fee or tax on propane that is due when it is odorized.
grizlump
What stuff is out there to model an LP dealer in N scale? I already know what I would use for main building, but I haven’t seen any LP looking tanks. Could an oil unloading rack be used as an unloader?
I agree, there are not many LP looking model tanks. However I do know of a Suburban Propane distribution center at Elk Grove near with two huge tanks that may meet your needs. Go to Google Maps, type Suburban Propane 10450 Grant Line Rd Elk Grove CA. Move the guy marker to and scan until you see the tanks.
Good luck, Rob
Live Map’s Bird’s Eye View works much better, if your browser supports it.
Bird’s Eye View of Suburban Propane
There was a thread about this subject in this forum a few months ago.
I model N scale and bought from Walters, the Twin LP Gas Storage Tanks for my layout in Feb 2008, # 570 2019. It is made by Plastruct. It came with decals for Suburban ( US) and Superior (Can) Propane. I used the Suburban ones as there is a dealer with 2 tanks just like in the kit here in Clearlake Ca. I took some photos of their operation when I built mine. Only problem is I should have painted and put on the decals before assembling the parts. Looks real good otherwise.
Ken Price
Both the views worked. The tanks look like huge, but I didn’t know they used that style tank for LP. Green Bay has a major fuel terminal area, if someone tells me how to post the link to the yahoo map things I will do that, it’s really quite impressive. There’s…half a dozen or so I think different fuel companies that load up there trucks here. I’m not sure how the gas gets there though. Non of the terminals have rail service from what I can see, but there’s only 1 or 2 seperate companies that get the tank cars so tankers aren’t seen that much around here, and the terminals are too far away from the Fox to be getting fuel from ships. Space will be at a premium, as I have to go with a shelf layout. I am deciding to go with the shelf even if our spare room stays open, I can easily make it split and be portable. The point off all that was I planned on using verticle tanks. I did check Walthers website and the Plastruct kit is still listed as in stock, but it’s not listed in Walthers '08 catalogue. I suppose now I’m going to have to buy the '09 catalogue. I was just going to make some verticle tanks out of old toilet paper rolls (usually around 1 to 1 1/16 inch diameter, and 4.5 inches long) and just make a domed top, but if I can get my hands on that Plastruct kit I would rather get and just lop off one end of the tanks at 90 degrees so it can sit up vertically. I used to work at what was probably a small propane dealer but very busy. They had a single vertic
many of the larger petroleum distribution terminals get their product through pipelines that come from distant refineries. there are also short pipelines that bring it in from river barge terminals that would not necessarily be very close to the storage tanks.
grizlump
Chicago’s only 400 miles away. It has to be pipes from refineries, no tanker ships or barges pass through the bay. It’s usually dry bulk ship bringing in cement or coal. That’s honestly all we really get is cement and coal by ship. Here’s a link.