I live near a refinery which manufactures oil and fuel additives. It has a four track yard on the property which is viewable from a highway at a relatively high angle. I’ve recently noticed that quite a few tank cars have reporting marks on the TOP of the tank as well as the conventional location on the side. These are not visible from trackside. Is this a recent thing or have I just not been as observant as I should have been? An interesting detail that I’ve not seen modeled. Not all tankers have it.
I know it has been going on for several years. The companies I know that put reporting marks on top of their tankcars are Archer-Daniels-Midland and Union Tankcar Company, I think I have seen some other leasing companies that do this I do not remember who they are off hand. Are there any tankcars owned by any other that have reporting marks on top of them?
The latest batch of walthers rtr 23,000 tankers have the reporting marks on the top. These are placed on top for the workers. Alot of the terminals are accessed from platforms and the workers do not have to climb down the side of the car just to see what car they are handling.
Thanx for the replies. I’ve seen some of the UTLX cars as ericsp noted and I believe that I’ve seen some GATX cars with reporting marks on the top. Just went by the yard this afternoon and didn’t see a single car marked on the top!
Tank cars have numbers on top so if a car derails and turns over on it’s side the Fire Department can use binoculars to ID the car from a safe distance.