I am looking for some information on the 'Skelgas' tank cars uses to ship propane or bottle gas in the 50's. I am not sure if these were 8,000, 10,000 0r 11,000 gallon cars. Most of the current HO models appear to be a standard 10,000 gallon low pressure tank car. A good prototype photo would be a great help!
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
The most excellent Richard Hendrickson said the Skelgas cars you're interested in were UTLX ICC-105-400 insulated high pressure tank cars.
Ed
Jim,
Here's a photo and some more info:
http://www.sunshinekits.com/sunimages/sun62c.pdf
Atlas makes this car, their 11,000 gallon tank car. I went through their production list, and didn't find Skelgas.
If yer lucky, yer sittin' on one or more samples of Champ HT-213 and are lookin' for the right car. I'd say you found it in the Atlas one. I looked over the Champ diagram, and the lettering looks like it's right for these cars. You might want to change the built date.
Another form of luck might be finding the Sunshine decals listed on the info sheet. Or even the kit, if that's your inclination.
There's an article on the prototypes of the cars in RMJ July 2003. There's no photo of the Skelgas cars.
Pretty much the same thing. The Champ decal set is HT-66. And from the Sunshine info, it looks like it might be the same car.
I found two photos of Philgas cars and one of Skelgas in Edward Kaminski's "American Car & Foundry Company 1899-1999". Neither of the two Philgas cars matches the Champ decals.
They look very similar to the Atlas car.
I'm not sure the various prototypes are EXACTLY the Atlas car. But, for now anyway, they're as close as you're likely to get.
The cars are all (about) 11,000 gallon insulated high pressure tank cars. They don't appear to have the cute deck around the dome that we all like so much. But I suspect the decks could have been added later. The photos I've been looking at are builder's photos.
Kaminski also has done an ACF tank car book. While full of neat photos (including a whale-oil car), I don't see any shots of Skelgas or Philgas cars.
There is a photo of a Philgas car in vol 2 of James Kincaid's Morning Sun set of tank car color books, but it is a 30,000 gal ICC112A340W -whalebelly dated 1961
Dave Nelson
7j43k Kaminski also has done an ACF tank car book. While full of neat photos (including a whale-oil car), Ed
Kaminski also has done an ACF tank car book. While full of neat photos (including a whale-oil car),
I think I need a whale oil car.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
BigDaddy 7j43k Kaminski also has done an ACF tank car book. While full of neat photos (including a whale-oil car), Ed I think I need a whale oil car.
We ALL need a whale oil car!
This one is APWX 7166 "American Pacific Whaling Company" built September 1917.
It's a 10,000 gallon car, uninsulated, with heater pipes. And arch bar trucks. It's not an exact match for any of the common 10,000 gal tank car models we have.