Tank Cars

Tank cars were generally not owned by railroads themselves, but rather by either their manufacturer or by other companies, which most of the time leased them out to another company. You can identify these by the "X" in their reporting marks, meaning that the car's owner is not a common carrier.

In 1865 crude oil was discovered in Pennsylvania, which necessitated the first "tank car", nothing but a wooden flat car with some tubs on it. A few years later metal tanks were developed to cut down on the leaking. Around 1900 the wooden cars were no longer able to carry the weight and so tank cars were made out of steel frames. Tanks were riveted together, but as content was starting to be put under pressure, this caused serious problems. By the start of WWII welded tanks quickly became the standard. In 1954 the modern "frameless" tank car came out, where the tank itself was part of the frame of the car. By 1960 tank cars also became "domeless". Tank cars nowadays use Type F couplers, which are designed to stay coupled even during a derailment, to prevent cars from coming loose in an accident.

Below are links to the various reports that show all of the S-scale reefers ever produced. Click whichever report gets you to the information that wish to find. The bottom of this page has additional references that might be of interest.

Contact person: Webmaster

1. By Model Manufacturer
   Entries are sorted by manufacturer, then by car owner's name, and then by type of tank car.
2. By Model Manufacturer ID
   Entries are sorted by manufacturer, then by the product ID, and then by car owner's name and road number. This report is handy if you know the manufacturer and the product ID.
   This report is limited to entries that have a known manufacturer ID set.
3. By Car Owner
   TankCars are different from most other freight cars, in that they typically were owned by a company, but then long-termed leased to another company. This report shows the cars by the owned company name. All entries are included in this report, including undecorated models.
4. By Lessee
   Sometimes reefers are more dominantly decorated with the name of the company leasing the car, so this report is limited to those cars that show the lessee's name.
5. By Type
   Entries are sorted by the tank car's type, then by car owner's name, and then by model manufacturer on the final pages.
6. By Gauge
   Entries are sorted by wheel gauge, then by manufacturer, and then by type of tank car. The final pages have the entries sorted by the reefers' road names.
7. By Model Introduction Year
   Entries are sorted by model year, then by manufacturer, and then by type of tank car. The final pages have the entries sorted by the reefers' road names.
   This report is limited to entries for which the model introduction year is known.
8. By Material
   Entries are sorted by the dominant material from which the model (especially its body) is made, then by manufacturer, and then by type of tank car. The final pages have the entries sorted by the reefers' road names.
   This report is limited to entries for which the dominant material is known.
9. By Photo
   A mini photo album of sorts, this report shows the primary photo for each entry. Click on a photo to see that model's details and possible additional photos. The entries are sorted by the car owner for which it was decorated, the model's manufacturer, and the car's road number. This is a huge page, so it may take some time to load.
   This report is limited to entries that have at least one photo set.
10. Missing Photos
    This report lists all of the entries for which we do not, yet, have a photo. If you have this model and can take a photo of it, please contact the webmaster.
11. All Entries
    This report lists all entries in one page, and you can click on an entry to see its model information.
12. All Entries (text only)
    Entries are sorted by model manufacturer, type, car owner's name, road number, model year, and product ID, all on one page (no details, no photos). This is handy for when you just want a basic list of what has been produced.
13. Downloadable Text File
    Entries are sorted by model manufacturer, manufacturer ID, car owner's name, road number, type of tank car, gauge, model year, product type, and finish. Note: To import or open this file in a spreadsheet software application, use the hat, ^, character as the column separator (see the "6" key of your keyboard). Most spreadsheet applications will let you pick the separator or delimiter; if not, open the file with a text editor and replace all "^" with a character of your choice, and then try it again.

Report Definitions

These definitions, in alphabetical order, may clarify some of the terms used in the reports linked-to above:

• Finish
  Where the "|" (vertical bar) is used in the text, it indicates that the model was available in more than one finish, where each finish format is separated by the "|" symbol.
• Gauge
  "AF": for models that come only with A.C. Gilbert-style or -compatible wheels and couplers.
  "S": for standard-gauge (4'8-1/2" rail-spacing) models that come with either no wheels and couplers, with scale wheels and/or couplers, or with "hi-rail" wheels and couplers but have scale wheels and couplers included in the box.
  "Sn3", "Sn2", "Sn42": for the various narrow-gauge rail spacings.
  
• Prototype Volume
  This is the tank volume as marked on the car's data decal, which may not have a bearing on the scale model's tank.
• Prototype Year
  If the real-world introduction year of a car is not known, then we indicate the year printed on the model, if shown. Note that the model's year number may indicate a built-new, rebuilt, or re-packaged date, whichever is later.
• Car Owner's Name
  The railroad name (prototype, freelance, or fictional) for which the model was decorated by the factory, or, if undecorated, for which the model was specifically designed. If no car owner's name is listed, then it is a generic model.
• Lessee's Name
  The name of the company that is long-term leasing the car, as the model was decorated by the factory.
• Road Number
  If the model was factory-decorated with a road number, it will be listed. If the model was released with more than one road number but otherwise is identical, then each road number is listed on the model's final page, but not listed as a separate entry. If the road number is shown with a series of question-marks, then that indicates that a road number was released but we don't know what it is. Each series of question-marks represents one unknown road number, thereby indicating the total number of unique road numbers with which we know the model was released.
• Style
  The overall configuration of the tank car.

Additional External References

Click the red header text for the external web site, listed here in alphabetical order; the sentence below it provides a high-level description of what you will find on that web page.

• Trains Tank Car History
• Wikipedia
• American Rails History
• Union Pacific - Modern Tank Cars
• Petroleum History
• The September 1980 issue of S Gaugian on page 19 has a full S-scale drawing of the 27-foot Union Tank Car Company's corn syrup car.