Funnel Flow Tank Cars

[Canadian Big Boy]

Anybody know when railroads started using funnel flow tank cars?

I'm modelling late transition peroid and don't want my steamers pulling cars that weren't around yet.

Thanks

Sheldon

[mlehman]

Sheldon,

I can say "Don't run them with steam." IIRC, these were a late 60s/early 70s innovation. A check of the UTLX history simply indicates 1960s:

http://www.utlx.com/history.html

[Canadian Big Boy]

Thanks for the info. Very interesting article.

[dknelson]

I first started to notice funnel flow cars -- with the slight dip in the center -- in the 70s.  I may simply have not noticed them in the 60s particularly in a moving train.  They are most easily spotted when standing still or moving slowly such as in a yard.

One of the oldest gripes in the hobby is that the manufacturers do not always put "eras" on the equipment they sell.  In an older time of the hobby I suspect they thought doing so would cost them sales, and indeed many of the old Varney and Red Ball prototypes were very old indeed. 

Now I think it is the failure to do so that can cost sales, and a few manufacturers seem to realize this.  True, the "era" -- even the built date -- of a model can lead you astray.  Railroads such as the C&NW were such avid purchasers of used equipment that it is easy to be fooled by an undated photo showing a car painted CNW and with a built date safely in your (meaning, my) era.   Not just any "plausible" CNW model is appropriate for my 1960s era layout.

It is standard advice to try to get a Car Builder's Cyclopedia for your chosen era, the immediately preceeding edition, and perhaps an edition from 30 or40 years earlier on the theory that freight cars 30 years old are fairly commonly seen.  That is what I have done, but that can be very expensive advice because it is rare to see a Car/Locomotive Cyclopedia for less than $100 and often they are quite a bit more. 

At some railroadiana swap meets however I have seen old copies of Railway Age and other railroad trade publications for almost give away prices and those often have excellent coverage of the "newest" freight cars. 

Dave Nelson

[Canadian Big Boy]

Thanks Dave.

Sheldon