Not having a LHS is really beginning to become a problem. I am adding the Walthers Petroleum Refinery, and I am unable to locate info on what type of tank cars are used to haul various petroleum products in the mid-'70’s. Can someone steer me in the right direction? Also, what type of reporting marks or identification is used for gasoline, diesel, oils, etc? I see current tankers with GATX, NORX, etc, but I don’t know what applies to fuels and oils.
The companies you mentioned, and many others, are the reporting marks for leasing companies. They will usually lease a wide variety of rolling stock so the reporting marks have nothing to do with the contents of the car.
rayw46,
Thanks for the info.
Was leasing a practice in the 1970’s? If not, does that mean that the tankers that hauled gasoline, for example, would be lettered for a specific retailer such as Texaco or Phillips 66? I want to get a small fleet of tankers, but I just can’t locate any info. I don’t know what size (8K gallon, 17,600 gallon, etc) or whether they had funnel flows then. Single domes, 3 domes? I am totally lost.
enduring i think funnel flows were mainly food grade tankers. every tank car built has a placard holder on the ends and sides. those placards will tell you what the commodity is.
if you can find the emergency response guide book. this can be found at major truck stops
tom
I am using Proto 2000 Assembled 8,000 gallon tank cars to run gasoline and other flammable liquids.
I use Atlas 11,000 gallon tank cars to run propane and similar.
There are several new Roundhouse 3 dome Tank cars, one set to haul chemicals, another to haul liquid dye to textile and food coloring and one set to run Desiel and oils. Even Vegatable oils and similar went by tanker.
Distillerys love tankers. There are a number of unmarked tankers running about hauling distilled spirits for bottling (Schnapps anyone?)
Bottled gas go in boxcars as does welding and other gases (Cylinders)
I model in the late steam so I try to keep the tanks rather small.
Funnel-flow tankcars carry all types of liquids. Only haz-mat tankcars carry placards. Furthermore, many times they are for some type of “not otherwise specified” material.
Funnel-flow tankcars would be appropriate for the 1970s. So would the Atlas 23,000 gallon and LPG tankcars. There would still be a significant amount of tankcars with underframes around then, but would have probably been a small percent of the tankcar fleet (Of course carbon dioxide tankcars still have underframes).
Gasoline (placard number 1203) and diesel fuel (1993) would not be major commodities shipped by rail by the 1970s. Asphalt (3257 and/or HOT) would be shipped in large quanities. Petrochemicals are more signicant commodities in terms of rail shipments. However, a small refinery probably would not do much of that. All though I plan to have various petrochemicals (hexane, benzene, toluene) shipped from my refinery. It is a Walthers refinery that I am modifing and adding more units (I plan to have a crude distillation unit, vacuum distillation, hydrotreater, hydrocraker, catalytic craker, catalytic reformer, delayed coker, and alkylation unit).
If you want to be prototypical, ship mainly LPG, asphalt, naphtha, and fuel oil from your refinery. You could add some gasoline and diesel (espicially to a railroad).
The modern placard system was developed some time in the late 1970s, I think. Microscale makes a decal set for the older placards.
Petroleum tankcars may not be the only tankcars associated with refineries.
Sulphuric acid is used in the refining process, shipped to refineries. Also some chemical firms have tankcars used to ship “spent” sulphuric acid back to the chemical plant for “regenerating”. Stauffer is one firm that did/does this…
Gulf at one time sold anyhydous ammonia produced from petroleum to Spencer Chemical in Kansas City for use in manufacturing fertilizer.
Oil cans used for Esso, Shell, Gulf for packaged motor oil, cans manufactured by Crown Cork & Seal Co, with plants in Chicago, St. Louis and east and west coasts.
according to Crown ad in Business Week Nov.19,1955 p.4
Marlex plastic, an olefin polymer from Phillips 66, was the basis of the HULA HOOP.
http://www.heritageresearch.com/War%20Facilities.html
You will find a wealth of information particularly chemicals. This is based on WW2 but some of the companies I recognized lasted into the 70’s
I have also heard of hydrofluoric acid for alkylation and sodium hydroxide to adjust the pH. And don’t forget sulfur leaving. Unfortunately, if he is going to be prototypical, his refinery would be too small for all of this to come and go by rail. So is mine, but I consider myself more of a rivet estimator.
Also, it appears that some refineries receive some sort of catalyst in 30’ tankcars from Lubrizol.