Just got home from a trip on the Amtrak Auto Train. Along the way, we passed many tank cars. Every one had only one dome cap. I have Lionels with both one and multiple dome caps. Would you know if the multi-dome tank cars in ‘real life’ are things of the past or would they still be used somewhere? As always, many thanks.
That’s a good question. Now that I think about it I have not seen a double dome in years, even near the big refineries in WV.
There were prototypes, but they are pretty old for the most part. Here’s that classic old Lional I think:
And there are a few more double and triple domes on this page as well as a couple of modern specialty ones.
With the creation of the uni-body tank and the technological advances in loading/unloading abilities it was probably more cost effective, labor/equipment/insurance wise, to obsolete the multi-domers.
I don’t run any of the modern tanks, my preference is for the oldfashioned platform tankers in single/double/triple domes. Can’t teach an old dog new tricks ? [:)]
Unlike us toy train guys Traindaddy, the real railroads have a vested interest in getting payload up per individual train car. Years ago, the LCL (less than a full load) car were developed to compete with trucking and most railroads had them. The Reading Lines came up with the slogan “Bee Line Service” as part of their operating plan to guarantee a shipper 24-hour service. Again, to compete with short line trucking.
Today, the railroads don’t worry about shortline trucking (save for the regional shortline railroads) but focus on long haul freight - which is where they make their money. That, and on moving large quantities of bulk commodities, which is far more costly by truck.
Train cars over the years have gotten larger to increase payload efficiency. Of course, in some cases these heavier cars and locos are causing havoc on train track that was laid years ago. The real railroads have also done some interesting experimenting in order to get more use and profit out of existing frieght cars. The Chessie and Conrail both experiemented with what are called “Tupperware Tops” to convert open hoppers into covered ones to carry element sensitive raw materials. That idea was shortlived was only used by the Chessie and Conrail.
Conrail also experimented with containers to carry coal mine tailings - called culm. These containers were moved on flat cars, but the idea never took off. Two interesting ideas that I have re-created on my own train layout.
Meanwhile, the toy train companies like Lionel have already invested money into tooling. The mostly less costly traditionally sized train cars are sometimes less costly as the tooling for these cars was paid for long ago. In the case of K-Line, much of their early tooling and dies came from MARX and Kusan. And those were models of smaller sized frieght cars. In the case of UMD Industrial Rail, I wish they’d put a little more effort into replicating more current styles of freight cars, since the Industrial Rail cars came fro
Buckeye R., Dough, Dougdagrump, & Brianel: Glad I asked…Thanks for your replies. [:)]
Hi!
Having been around refineries since 1966, I can not recall seeing a multiple dome car in service at any of the places I worked. They were relatively common in the 30s-50s, but the need tended to go away as trucks took over and “mom & pop” wholesalers disappeared.
Most all (all???) of the multi-domed cars were compartmentalized, so as to haul different grades of gasoline / chemicals in the same car. I have several Lionel (and Athearn on my HO layout) and they really add character.
ENJOY,
Mobilman44
mobilman44: Appreciate response.
I remember seeing one two dome tank car at a company called Union Camp in Valdosta, Georgia during the late eighties. It was the only one I ever saw. I remembered thinking at the time that it looked like a Lionel tank car. I was caught without a camera. There were, and are, two large ralroads and one short line that serve Valdosta. CSX, NS and Valdosta Southern. Union camp was on the CSX.
George
Thanks George.
Here is a two-dome car from the 1940 Car Builder’s Cyclopedia. FWIW it doesn’t show up in the NMRA’s giant Postwar Freight Car Fleet book - just triple and single dome cars.
Bob: Thanks for the photo and info.
This is SHPX 42 at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union. The museum also has Cook Paint & Varnish 101, a 2 dome tanker. The URL is www.irm.org/cgi-bin/rsearch.cgi?freight=Cook+Paint+&+Varnish+Company=101. This car has the proportions of the Lionel 2 dome tanker. K-Line made a model of this car (with a different number) but their car is based on their 3 dome tank car tooling.
IRM has a large number of tank cars of different shapes and sizes.
cbq991a: Thanks for the post.
The only time I recall seeing a triple dome car in person was when I was driving past a chemical plant in Oregon - it had been taken off its trucks and was being used as a storage tank - a very model railroady thing, I thought at the time, but the real deal.