Atlas Model Railroad Co. Product Review

HO – ATLAS 11,000 GALLON INSULATED TANK CARS REPORT FOR DUTY

MODEL RAILROAD NEWS - January 2004

Review by John Sipple

Insulated 11,000 gallon tank cars
MSRP: Decorated - $23.95; Undecorated - $18.95

Atlas Model Railroad Co., Inc.
378 Florence Avenue
Hillside, NJ 07205
908-687-0880 – Fax 908-687-8857
www.atlasrr.com

Atlas Model Railroad Company is making available to HO scale modelers and collectors a new line of ACF 11,000 gallon insulated tank cars which have been previously released in N scale. Road names (with two roadnumbers each) are: Sid Richardson Gasoline Corp., Shippers Car Line, Pyrofax Bottled Gas, Gulf Oil Corp., Associated Cooperatives, Inc., Warren Petroleum, California Dispatch Line, Fuelane Corp., and undecorated versions with and without safety platforms.

Prototype
Tank cars live in a world all their own. Of all the varying types of freight cars on the market, tank cars have more government and railroad specifications and limitations than the next two put together. All tank cars are designed for specific products, and high-pressure, insulated tank cars began to appear around 1920. Much like a thermos bottle, an insulted tank car has an inner tank and an outer shell with some sort of insulating material in between. The purpose of the insulation is to hold down the heat, mostly from direct sunlight, which increases the pressure of the product inside.

The easy spotting feature for the insulated pressure tank car is the heads (tank car jargon for ends of the tanks). The actual container tank inside looks very much like any other car tank, but the outer shell has heads that are put on much like the lids on a tuna fish can. The result is a very noticeable lip around the head. Rather than have the large expansion dome, most 105A cars had the smaller gas filler domes. Also, these cars were far more likely to come with safety decks on top. The review cars model the ACF 105A version with rivets, a type of car built extensively before World War II and declining in favor of welded construction after the war, though riveted construction continued until the mid-sixties. American Car and Foundry (ACF) continued to make insulated pressure cars into the 1980s though other insulated designs were beginning to supersede the old 105A design. Space-age insulation, innovative metallurgy, and integral design have made older designs obsolete and most have disappeared by now.
On a 30 to 40 foot frame, tanks of various capacities could be installed according to the wishes of the buyer. ACF produced standard capacities a low as 4,000 gallons and went up to over 12,000 gallons during the period of riveted construction. These old tanks were usually built with quarter-inch boiler plate steel formed into two half pipes and welded together. Rounded heads were installed along with heating coils, domes, dump piping and other features. Tanks for insulated cars were built, pressure tested, and then the outer shell was assembled over it. Thousands of these cars were built in varying capacities and no layout representing the twenties to the eighties would be complete without them.

The Models
With three versions to draw from, I had a good chance to sample this HO-scale product line. These are 38 foot tank cars (41 feet across coupler pulling faces) and represent measurements that are well within the range of sizes for tank cars of this type. The ACX car states that its water capacity is 91,945 pounds. Since water weighs 8 pounds per gallon, we can divide the capacity in pounds by 8 and we come up with 11,493 gallons. The expression “11,000 gallons” is not exact and covers capacities ranging fro 10,500 to 11,499.

These models have carefully crafted handrails, ladders, grabs, foot rungs, and other details. They have upright brake wheels, usually in indicator of a pre-WWII design. Two of the three sport safety platforms complete with safety railings. Several modelers I know have complained that too many tank cars are not modeled with safety platforms when more tank cars had them. I agree and was pleased to see Atlas going this way, especially on high pressure, insulated cars.

Two of the three – Warren and Fuelane – sport aluminized paint on the main tank body; the Sid Richardson is predictable black. If you put a good magnifier to work, you can read the tiny lettering on each car. Don’t be surprised to find that the lettering is crisp and readable; all of mine were. Everything you might want to know about each car is printed on the side, right down to the AC&F arched logo on the frame.

Fuelane FCX130 is an ICC 105-A-300-W built in 1948 and earmarked for LP gas. The “Happy Cooking” logo is a really cool touch. Sid Richardson RTCX 5391 is also the same class, built in 1953, and marked for LP gas. Built in 1947, Warren WRNX 2275 is another 300 pounder set up for LP service. With build dates ranging from 1947 to 1953, these cars represent some of the last riveted construction in tank cars.

Operation
The magnetic knuckle couplers work very well and the cars are appropriately weighted for NMRA standards at 3.6 ounces each. As a result of the weighting, the couplers, and the smooth metal wheel design, the cars roll very smoothly. I ran them at the head of a long train and also switched them as a cut of seven cars. I had no stringlining or switch problems. They all tracked well through switches and around 18 inch curves. Conversion to Kadee couplers is quite staightforward.

Summary
Such gases as LP and anhydrous ammonia have been an essential part of American life for three quarters of a century. If ammonia is largely a product used by industry, LP gas goes home to places not served by natural gas pipelines. Modeling bottled gas facilities is an interesting process made more possible by these insulated gas tankers. Atlas already has the modern “big bottles” in its catalog, and now their offerings back up another half century. Insulated tank cars are just what we needed.