Tank cars during the early 1980s

[Benjamin Maggi]

I am modeling the D&H in the year 1984. I am pretty clueless when it comes to what types of tank cars should be on my layout. The area I model didn't really receive much in tank cars so they will just be featured in through trains.

I see many companies offer RTR tank cars in HO but I don't know what would be appropriate for the time frame I am interested in. I see many "modern/current" tank cars for sale and many from the Steam/transition era but what about the 1980s?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[chutton01]

Perhaps this list from a few years back (and a different forum) may help you for a start; the question in that thread was tank cars suitable for the late 1970s, but still (some dates are also a bit suspect).

Athearn Blue Box
62' tankcar, used for railroad fuel service even today
40' chemical tankcar, still several floating around in during the 80's and 90's

Athearn RTR
8,000 NACC "Beercan" tankcar, built in the 60's
13,600 acid tankcars, first built in the late 70's
20,900 Acid Tankcar
20,900 General Service tankcar, built in the 60's and 70's
33,900 LPG Tank, (the style with the short platform)

Athearn Genesis
20,000 GATX General Service Tankcar, another great 60's and 70's tankcar, due in 2011

Atlas
11,000 Chemical Tankcar, still a few floating around in the 70's and 80's
14,000 Kaolin tankcars, 70's built
17,360 Chemical tankcar, 70's built
20,700 General Service tankcars, 60's built
23,500 GS tank, 70's and 80's built
33,000 Whalebelly tankcar, 60's built

Walthers
16,000 40' Modern Funnel Flow tankcar, A good 70's era car for Corn Syrup and Kaolin Clay Slurry
23,000 54' Modern Funnel Flow Tankcar, 70's built Vegetable Oil/ Petroleum products tankcar
33,000 65' Tankcar, 70's built LPG tankcar

By the early 1980s most general service tank cars in North America were frameless, although IIRC a fair number of the smaller chemical tank cars had frames (probably they were older models). Recall that UTLX implemented the design of the 'modern' frameless tankcars in the mid-1950s, so some framed design were still running around in interchange service by the early 1980s.

[JOHN BRUCE III]

Narrowing this down, traffic on the D&H going to New England in tank cars would be clay slurry for Maine paper, corn syrup for Boston and Portland area food processors, petroleum products for autos and heating, and propane. There are lots of good DVDs with railfan footage of the D&H in this era.

[Benjamin Maggi]

Thank you both! Between the two of you, I have a lot of information to go on. I will print this out and use it to find stuff at my next train show!

[ericsp]

The paper mills might also get chlorine, sulfur dioxide, or hydrogen peroxide. Another possibility for the paper mills is alpha-pinene.

I don't know if it was the D&H that served it, but there used to be a Hampshire Chemical Company plant in Nashua, NH (it's a field now). It had hydrogen cyanide tank cars going to it. They are rather unique looking cars.
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=67630
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2106216

Dow Chemical had a styrene products plant at Allyn's Point, CT. The plant is still in operation but has been sold. It receives tank cars of styrene (DOWX 6800s & 7300s) and butadiene (DOWX 3300s, 8100s, & 8200s). It ships styrene-butadiene latex in tank cars (various series).
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/rsPicture.aspx?road=DOWX&cid=12

[mbinsewi]

Lastspikemike

Just popping this thread up to connect to a currently discussed topic over in Layouts as well as here.

? 

Mike.

[cv_acr]

Since the original list was posted above, you can also add the new Rapido Trains tank car, a Procor general service design built ~1969-1982. 

I don't know if the D&H guy is still around, but these would probably be common coming down from Canada on this line. For anyone else modeling 1980+, these would also get around.

[cv_acr]

mbinsewi

 

 

Lastspikemike

Just popping this thread up to connect to a currently discussed topic over in Layouts as well as here.

 

 

? 

Mike.

 

He probably means there are similar active threads on tank cars for this rough era, so he wanted to make this thread visible at the top of the index. While it's old thread, the list posted above is still good info.

[cv_acr]

Note - the three cars labelled as "chemical" tank cars are representative of compressed/liquified gas cars for chlorine etc. service. The first two are older designs that would have also been used for LPG/AA in the 1950s but replaced by larger cars for that service in the 1960s-70s.

Athearn Blue Box
40' chemical tankcar, still several floating around in during the 80's and 90's

Atlas
11,000 Chemical Tankcar, still a few floating around in the 70's and 80's
17,360 Chemical tankcar, 70's built

The Atlas 33,000 "whalebelly" car is one of those 1960s LP/AA gas cars.

[dti406]

Also missing is a number of the Tangent  Tank Cars, some are of an older design but lasted into the 80's. 

Also Broadway Limited produces a cyrogenic tank car that was built in the 60's and was used until recently.

Rick Jesionowski

[richhotrain]

Lastspikemike

 

Before I became the enfant terrible (or perhaps the idiot savant?) on this forum I extensively googled the topics of interest to me when re-entering the hobby after a very, very long absence. 

LOL.  More likely an enfant terrible. Awareness is the first step toward change.

[mbinsewi]

I realized he was bumping the thread, but when he mentioned layouts, it threw me off for bit.

I see LSM joined in June, the height of my seasonal hiatus while I build our place in WI northwoods, and other out door projects.

I have been catching up on the post and threads.

Mike.

[richhotrain]

mbinsewi

I realized he was bumping the thread, but when he mentioned layouts, it threw me off for bit.

I see LSM joined in June, the height of my seasonal hiatus while I build our place in WI northwoods, and other out door projects.

I have been catching up on the post and threads.

Mike. 

Well, in that case, Mike, you have missed out on a lot of fun.

Rich