Cryogenic tanks available by HO manufacturers

[dragonriversteel]

Recently picked up a HO Broadway Limited cryogenic tank car for use with my BOF. Does any HO manufacturer make cryogenic tanks for offloading ?

Might have to scratch build cryogenic tanks but figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Any leads ?

Thanks for your time.

Patrick

[gmpullman]

dragonriversteel

Might have to scratch build cryogenic tanks but figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Hi,

The tank itself is pretty nondescript. I worked with several liquid nitrogen, argon and hydrogen tanks. The vaporizer is what would be distinctive and necessary for your installation. I found one at Shapeways for example:

https://www.shapeways.com/product/3N3FDSELX/n-scale-cryogenic-vaporizer-tank-38mm?optionId=60531209&li=marketplace

I'll try to find a photo or two of the liquid tanks from where I worked. The Walthers 933-3197 tank assortment would probably give you what you need to get started.

Horizontal Argon tank:

GEfaceAH_0021 by Edmund, on Flickr

Vertical Liquid Hydrogen tank:

GEfaceAH_0020 by Edmund, on Flickr

Liquid nitrogen generator and horizontal tank:

GEfaceAH_0036 by Edmund, on Flickr

I'll post more if I find any.

Vertical Liquid nitrogen tank:

L-N2 by Edmund, on Flickr

Hope that helps,

Regards, Ed

[dragonriversteel]

Thank you Ed. 

Like the vertical tanks. Kinda what I had in mind but then after doing a bit of research. I found the big Spherical Tanks like NASA uses. That got the gears turning the right way.

Micheals craft store carry's styrene plastic balls. Perfect for the starting Spherical tanks. Still might scratch a few vertical tanks too.

In your opinion. What tanks would look right for both liquid Argon & liquid Oxygen ? Either ?

Patrick

[BigDaddy]

Hospitals use a lot of oxygen. All the tanks I've seen are vertical.

[chutton01]

The Walthers industrial tank kit #933-3514 does include 2 vertical tanks which can be made into decent looking cyrogenic tanks.

(OK, I posed the tank and vaporizer on the table as the location it will end up at is not completed yet).  Figured it would be nice to illustrate such a tank model, though.

For the OP though - you probably want to model a rail unloading loading facilities, as these (smallish) tanks would be filled by from a delivery truck/trailer, not from a rail tank car.  From a quick search I couldn't find any good industrial-sized facility images I'm afraid.

[dragonriversteel]

Thank you Henry. 

 

 

[dragonriversteel]

chutton01

The Walthers industrial tank kit #933-3514 does include 2 vertical tanks which can be made into decent looking cyrogenic tanks.

(OK, I posed the tank and vaporizer on the table as the location it will end up at is not completed yet).  Figured it would be nice to illustrate such a tank model, though.

For the OP though - you probably want to model a rail unloading loading facilities, as these (smallish) tanks would be filled by from a delivery truck/trailer, not from a rail tank car.  From a quick search I couldn't find any good industrial-sized facility images I'm afraid.

 

 

 Superb modeling ! That's the amount of sideline detail I need. 

 I've been searching for a HO tractor trailer suitable for cryogenic transport. Not one darn thing. Scratch/bash it is.

Thanks for sharing your work. Gives plenty of ideas.

Patrick

 

[gmpullman]

dragonriversteel

In your opinion. What tanks would look right for both liquid Argon & liquid Oxygen ? Either ?

I was under the impression the ball-tanks were generally used for liquefied gases such as propane or butane. Nasa proved me wrong:

https://blogs.nasa.gov/groundsystems/wp-content/uploads/sites/254/2017/10/Pad-39B-LO2-Tanking.jpg

So, as others point out, a vertical tank especially makes sense as the foot print is smaller for our available space. Vollmer, and maybe Faller make spherical tanks I suppose you could press into LO2 service:

https://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/vol/vol45529.htm

Here in Cleveland, Linde has an off-site gas liquefication plant and the gases are piped a mile or two to the steel mill. Excess is loaded on to the cryo-tank trucks you mention and trucked to other plants and hospitals. I wish I would have taken more photos of those trucks when they came in to GE.

I made a "pipe corridor" for my gas and cooling water supply lines:

IMG_5799_fix by Edmund, on Flickr

Before the rail was painted 

IMG_5855 by Edmund, on Flickr

IMG_5848_fix by Edmund, on Flickr

See link below for representative tank sizes.

https://www.praxairdirect.com/Industrial-Gas-and-Welding-Information-Center/Cylinder-Cryo-and-Gas-System-Information/Bulk-Liquid-Storage-Delivery.html

 

Cheers! Ed

[dragonriversteel]

Thank you Ed for the info. I don't know all the goings on of a working mill in regards to cryogenic storage. When I was a teenager,our local steel mill was using trucks for cryogenic delivery. 

Spot on modeling the piping. That's one detail that sells the look. Fantastic job !

I found the cryogenic tanker trucks in HO as mentioned in above post. Made by trucks n stuff if you're interested .

My humble mill is in the beginning stages and all I can hope for is to turn it into a mill like yours & many others.

Patrick

[NHTX]

     HO scale cryogenic trailers are available from a company known as Tonkin.  Stock number 95006.  They also stock a propane trailer that may be used for other types of liquified gases.  Tonkin items are available from www.3000toys.com  

[railandsail]

dragonriversteel

Thank you Ed. 

Like the vertical tanks. Kinda what I had in mind but then after doing a bit of research. I found the big Spherical Tanks like NASA uses. That got the gears turning the right way.

Micheals craft store carry's styrene plastic balls. Perfect for the starting Spherical tanks. Still might scratch a few vertical tanks too.

In your opinion. What tanks would look right for both liquid Argon & liquid Oxygen ? Either ?

Patrick

 

I didn't see too many folks replying to what appeared to be your real interest in those SPHERICAL tanks?

A bit of history here. When I first reentered the hobby I had (still have) a big interest in tank cars. I grew particularly fond of the liquid oxygen/argon/etc cars by Overland, the brass ones, ....but they were beyond my price tag.

I started to kit-bash two from the Athearn 62' tank cars, but never finished the project. For a number of years I tried to get several manufacturers interested in building a plastic model. I started off with the Proto 2K guys in Balt, then Atlas, then someone else (can't remember), then Spring Mills (after they did that great wagon top caboose). All of them rejected the idea sighting too small of a market.

Finally I heard that Broadway ltd was interested. They were right down the road from me, and I had already collected lots of info on these cars. I kept up pressure on them to go forward with the idea,...and they did. I think it has turned out a success for them as they have now done several production runs, and even some N scale versions recently.

So now I need some structures of some type on my new layout to support the running of these cars. My layout is too small to support a space launching facility I once proposed as a stand alone module project. So I am thinking of a small production plant producing some of these cryo gases. Many of these 'plants' were relatively small.

And I want my plant(s) to have some storage capability,...SPHERICAL tanks. Got to go looking for examples.

 

[railandsail]

Did not know this ever existed,...and perhaps just a little larger than what I had in mine. BUT I LIKE the scene

....just took notice...its N scale...dang

https://www.1999.co.jp/eng/image/10138707

[gmpullman]

railandsail

I kept up pressure on them to go forward with the idea,...and they did.

If you have access to an ear that you can bend at Broadway Limited, how about mentioning the possibility of producing the gas cylinder helium cars?

4368002 by John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library, on Flickr

Broadway seems to follow through on some one-of-a-kind pieces of equipment so these cars may fall into their possible choices category.

4368007 by John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library, on Flickr

These cars saw service from the early 1930s until the 1990s and saw service on many railroads:

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/43001b_17387cded06b4f00ab8a4f5ca768cb45.pdf

This article states that there are three cars still in existance, one at the Gold Coast Museum in Miami.

Presently, the only thing available in HO is the well-worn Roco/AHM model from the early 1970s:

Helium_tube by Edmund, on Flickr

I believe this car could be popular with modelers. Maybe not?

Several good articles here:

https://www.amarillorailmuseum.com/helium-car-history

Good Luck, Ed

[railandsail]

I've forgotten exactly who is was that I communicated with quite a bit about those cryo cars. I sent them lots of images and links to those cars that I had collected over a period of years. Turns out they had someone else on staff that did LOTS of research as well to find even more examples than even I had collected.

I believe I have already mentioned that helium car to them, but no positive response. I'm not as sure about its marketability as compared to the cryogenic cars.

I have quite a number of those helium cars that I had plans on trying to weather up in such a way to make them look more realistic.