Got a question for my forum friends: What is the proper tank car model in HO scale for handling molasses? I have found that I need to have some for the area I am modeling (not that I need more freight cars, or course). I have no idea as to where I need to begin.
As usual, any suggestions that anyone can provide would be welcomed.
I’ll be at the Western Sugar refinery in Fort Morgan, CO tomorrow. They ship molasses, so I’ll see if I can get a photo of the tank car.
Ray
I Googled “tank car for molasses” and found lots of info. The pics I wanted to post are copyrighted, so you can look for yourself.
It depends on what time period you model. Today, the same cars used to ship corn syrup can, and are, used to ship molasses. They ususally have a coil of piping inside the outer shell, so steam lines can be connected to the car at the receiving end, and warm the product for easier unloading. They probably all are insulated cars.
I model this on my lay out. The white insulated pipe is a steam line, and the red one is product. I modeled this from many searches I did on food plants receiving molasses and corn suyrup.
Wow, Photobucket is crazy with what it adds on to the computer! Just watch the bar at the bottom left while everything is loading. There must be a better way!
Mike.
EDIT: I’ll also be interested in what Coloado Ray post.
Molasses weighs 11.6 lbs/gallon. So, 20,000 gallons of the product would weigh 113 tons. I suspect a tank car handling molasses would be insulated and may have steam heat pipes to make the product flow out faster at it’s destination.
It will be interesting to see what Ray finds…
Jim
I’m not an expert in the field, but I figure molasses is about the same as corn syrup. For the purposes of picking a tank car.
Here’s a typical one:
http://www.intermountain-railway.com/ho/html/47810.htm
Other people make similar cars.
Ed
I’d guess the appearance will vary somewhat with your modelling era, but it would likely be a car used for food products and would be equipped with heater coils.
I use this old Varney tank car in molasses service on my layout:
Wayne
Wayne
The replies above hit the nail on the head. In today’s food industry we use the same cars for corn syrup as we do for molasses. These cars are steam jacketed to allow for the heating of the product on arrival for easier discharge. They are also insulated. Most common are the 17,600 gal along with some 19,000 gal cars we in the industry call supers (a typical car will hold 4 semi trucks worth of product a super is around 4.4-4.5). I work with corn syrup but i know these cars are used for molasses due to having to check prior commoditys of the rail car before loading. These cars are used for many products and washed a certain number of times before a new product is loaded depending on the previous product.
here is a link to a run of cars that are basically your standard modern food industry tank car.
http://www.atlasrr.com/HOFreight/hotrinity.htm
Sorry if it’s not clickable on my phone at work
Here’s a link to the 19,000 gal cars, a photo of which I posted earlier:
http://www.intermountain-railway.com/ho/hotankcars.htm
Scroll to the bottom.
I expect molasses has been shipped in tank cars about forever. If you want earlier cars than the ones posted here, I would recommend getting the insulated versions of early tank cars. Proto 2000/Walthers would likely be a source.
Ed
Sorry I forgot to put my era in my original post. I model the early to mid-70s.
Drat, my client postponed our meeting at the Western Sugar refinery. My posting of molassas tank car photos will have to wait.
Ray
Hmmm. Perhaps you might use the Athearn 30’ 8000 gal shorties. That’s about when they were around. Cute, too.
Ed
The frame-less tank car, as we know them now, were pretty much the norm by 70’s. I found this a while ago. Scroll down, and you can go through the years. It’s a power point thing from Union Tank Car Company.
http://utlx.com/pdf/TankCarHistory.pdf
Mike.
Such as these: http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=tank+30'?
I took a closer look at the Atheran 30’ cars and the way it looks there is only one set of cars that are even for food grade service and those appear to be for corn syrup and corn products like that. (No mention of molassess.)
I’d guess the same to be true of your '70s era, too.
Wayne
A lot of molasses is used as cattle feed, so that would probably not require a food grade tank car.
I seem to recall 20,000 gallon tank cars like those models made by Athearn and Atlas being used for molasses.
http://www.athearn.com/Search/Default.aspx?SearchTerm=50gatc20ktank+ATHG&CatID=THRF
For what I am looking at, I think it would need to be food grade. Post number 10 in http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/13/t/260507.aspx
(I have tried multiple times and can’t get the hyperlink to take. And yes I have run it through my visual interpreter.)
Here are tank cars at that sugar refinery.
Ironically, the forum will not make links to other forum posts hot.