The Atlas and Walthers tank cars I recently bought don’t have any, but do have the holders. I found webpages with tank car placards that I thought to shrink, print out, and glue. Part of me thinks to put them on the cars but I don’t know whether anyone would even notice given their small size.
Thanks!
I’ve thought the same thing. I did get some stands from Plano, along with some parts for a few tank car projects, and I found this at Microscale:
So, I might give it a shot, now that I have my optivisor! [(-D]
Mike.
I guess it depends, do you have an industry that they will be prominently displayed at? If the answer is yes, then they might be worthwhile.
If you spotting location is not “front and center” as they say, I would just paint them whichever color they should be, as the color will be most noticeable difference. (Depending on era, and load, different colors were used.)
My “run through” cars, being transferred from one railroad interchange to the classification yard on my layout, only have the proper coloring, no actual printed labels yet, and that is good enough for my current needs, as the only time they are close to the operator (mostly me), is in a moving train. (The industry is “off layout”, so tank loads go from there to be classified into outbound interchange, empties come from inbound interchange to be classified into the “elsewhere” outbound train. Also thinking about a “unit run through” of etheanol, so again, never close enough to notice, as it will always be moving while on layout.) Color is way more noticeable then than any actual printing on such small details when moving.
So, if they will be close to an operator while being loaded/unloaded, then it might be worth the time to use actual printed placards. If never close enough to notice, or only close enough while in a moving train, then just paint the correct color, and I would be willing to bet nobody would know the difference, except you.
I have often thought of it too, in fact, last year, I believe it was, NMRA magazine came out with an article on different applications for placards, not just for tank cars, but other lading that might warrant them. I have also wondered if they might be noticeable to even the “rivet counter”.
My only problem is that I have several (planned) industries that could be serviced by tank cars. I would like to use these tank cars from time to time on any one of these industries, using different products, from hazardous chemicals to food-grade liquids. This presents a problem regarding the type (and/or color) of placard, depending on the type of load. Or does it even matter?
Tom,
Food-grade tank cars are almost universally in “captive service”, meaning they can only haul that product, never anything else. (Corn syrup cars will thus be stenciled “Corn Syrup” right on the car itself, etc…) And, I say almost universally captive, as most will be captive to one shipper as well.
Never would a food grade liquid be loaded into a car that had carried a hazardous liquid prior. The company lawyers would have a royal fit if they did!
And, the shipper can refuse the cars if the customer who unloaded prior didn’t properly clean out said captive car. (Or charge a fee in addition to the product for cleaning.)
Railroads are not permitted to take a captive service car to load with anything else. Ever. Again, their lawyers would have kittens if it did occur. (Possibly puppies as well! [;)] )
Others may not notice…but YOU would know they are there.
I’m making decals for mine, as soon as I figure out which are the proper warnings for my cars. Actually they might be photos instead because the holders are black and decals don’t work to well on black.
j…
I think it is worthwhile. I have been wanting to add them but wonder the following:
what year were placards introduced? my layout is transition era, did they even have them back then?
which placards were used at the time? There are specific ones for different products.
I do make placards. Someone posted a nice big sheet of them, in HO scale, on this forum a while ago. I print them on ordinary paper with my ink-jet. I think they give a nice spot of color, and the texture of the copier paper looks just right for a placard.
There were placards in the transition era.
Some information here: http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/13/p/254699/2852261.aspx#2852261
and here:
Scale Trains makes an upscale tank car with placards. Here is a review so you can see what it looks like.
12 cars for $36/ea, I am not their targeted market. [(-D]
Placards can go on just about any kind of car that can carry hazardous materials. Want to model special handling? Add an explosives placard to a boxcar!
Does anyone have a link to that page? I might try to print some for myself.
Charlie
For some great information on placards, go here:
http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2012/03/tank-car-placards-prototype.html
Tony Thompson’s blog is one of the most useful sources of modeling info I have found. Use the “search this blog” window on this site to see for yourself:
http://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/
Type in “placards” to get a wealth of pages on his blog.
Yes. I think there are at least four different ones but I could be wrong. I haven’t done the research yet. They tell the fire department what the hazard is so the responders know how to handle the situation.
Great discussion everyone. I did some digging and found a great explanation of how to read placards here:
http://www.mcor-nmra.org/Publications/Articles/Reading%20Hazardous%20Materials%20Placards.pdf
From a clinic, here is a listing of placards for different eras:
http://nmra2015.sbcrailway.ca/sites/default/files/clinics/Placard%20handout%20letter_0.pdf
Two questions:
Would tank cars need to get their placards updated to reflect updated regulations?
Given that certain types of tank cars carry different products (e.g. 33K cars transport LPG and AA), can they have multiple placards affixed to a car or do the placards change based on what a car is currently carrying?
Thanks!
The last question about placards above has been answered over in this thread if anyone hasn’t seen it:
Small effort, and every time you’re railfanning your own railroad you’ll notice and remember.
Yeah, it’s something 99% of your visitors would not notice, but the 1% will and they’ll appreciate it.
[;)][;)]
Yes, Ricky, I do realize that, and I do have some of those “captive” shipper tank cars. However I do have some “general” or “common” shipper tank cars (leased, with no specific lading nor company markings), that could be used (in modeling only, not in real life; lawyers not included!), for other types of loads.
[;)]
You accusing me of being a rivet counter, Roger?