Swayback Tank Car

Trains Magazine General Discussion
1

I have read a description of a “swayback tank car” but have been unable to locate a picture of one using Google Image Search. Can anyone point me to a photo of such a car?

For that matter, is there an on-line gallery of the different types of freight cars that I might bookmark? I often see things but do not know the name by which they are known.

2

See

http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/csox31084.jpg

http://www.museumoftransport.org/images/rw-tanker.jpg

http://prr.railfan.net/diagrams/PRRdiagrams.html?diag=TM1-E600104.gif&sel=tnk&sz=sm&fr=

Have fun

3

exPalaceDog,

Thank you for your response.

How where you able to find those images when I could not?

Also, what would be the name for a tank car that is built with a very pronounced V, and what kind of commodities does that kind of car carry?

4

I think the cars you are inquiring about are the UTLX Funnelflow cars.Check the Fallen Flags website or http://www.railcarphotos.com/index.php? Search by UTLX or Union Tank Car.

The links that exPalaceDog gave you are whalebelly cars.

Have a good one.

Bill B

5

I agree, you’re probably talking about Funnel Flow cars. The are used to transport thick liquids, like corn syrup, vegetable oil, thick petrolum products, molten sulfur, acids, and other chemicals.

Nick

6

When Union Tank Car was pushing these cars (late 1970s, IIRC), the logo they used on them read “Funnel Flow Veg Oil’r”. However, the idea of tanks sloping toward the discharge outlet was used for more commodities than this. Other builders did similar things, but some accomplished the same thing with a gradual increase in diameter toward the center. The Union Tank Car Company’s cars always seemed to be the most obvious about their intentions (I’ve often wondered how the tops of the tanks at the ends of teh cars were filled!).