1970's appropriate tanker cars


DakotaLove39

Always Improvising
After some very helpful answers about Piggyback and autorack cars of the 1970's, I'm back to ask about tankers. I don't have a single tanker car in my 1970's era pool. What type am I looking for?
 
What are you hauling? Tank car designs and sizes vary depending on the commodity.

Compressed gas, "general service" liquids, and acid tanks all have different fittings. Tanks can be insulated or uninsulated, and some commodities required steam to be applied through heating coils (hidden under the tank insulation) in order to make the product flow for unloading.

In general though, given that railcars have service lives of up to 40 years (50 for cars built after July 1974) you can have cars from the 1940s-70s in service on your 1970s era layout.

Here's a quick run-down of a few, although I may be missing a bunch. (Caveat: Note this just deals with the car designs, some of the paint schemes offered by the manufacturers may represent more recent re-paints that may not fit your era.)

Compressed Gas tank designs:

Atlas Master ACF 33,000 gal - 1960s compressed gas. LPG (liquified petroleum gas - propanes, butanes, etc.) or anhydrous ammonia service.
Atlas Master ACF 17,360 gal - 1960s-1970s compressed gas. Good for heavier gases like chlorine, sulfur dioxide, refrigerant gases, etc.
Atlas Master ACF 11,000 gal - 1950s compressed gas. Still common in the 1970s in chlorine etc. service
Kadee ACF 11,000 gal - same as above
Walthers 65' LPG - 1960s-1970s compressed gas. LPG/anhydrous ammonia.

Liquid/General service designs:

Atlas Master GATX 20,700 gal - 1960s-70s Non-insulated general liquids service. Good for fuels, oils, tallow, many other products.
Atlas Master ACF 23,500 gal - 1960s insulated general service.
Atlas Master ACF Clay Slurry - 1970s insulated kaolin/limestone clay slurry service. (out of product/not listed on Atlas's site)

Walthers 23,000 gal "Funnel Flow" - 1960s insulated general service. Diesel fuel, asphalt, vegetable oils, many other products.
Walthers 16,000 gal "Funnel Flow" - 1960s insulated. Denser products like molten sulphur, caustic soda, corn syrup, many others.

Athearn RTC 20,900 gal - 1970s non-insulated general service. *versions also exist with fittings for light acids/corrosive products service.

Specialized car designs:

Athearn 14,000 gal acid - 1970s sulphuric acid (out of product/not listed on Athearn's site)
Tangent 8000 gal acid - 1950s various acids still in common use in the 1970s.
 
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Commodity is not really important. My club's layout has a refinery type facility but I'm not exactly sure what it's supposed to be. I just know I have zero period-correct tanker cars.
 
Wouldn't the tank cars of today have been in use in the 1970s?
 
Wouldn't the tank cars of today have been in use in the 1970s?

Let's go with "No"?

Try to reverse your statement.

Yes, some tank cars built in the late 1970s are still in use today. (50 year service life for cars built after July 1974)

However cars built in the 1980s, 1990s, or later obviously could not have been in service in the 1970s, but definitely in service today.

Cars built in the 1940s-60s would have very much still been in service in the 1970s but long gone today.
 
You can go with NO, that's fine wuith me. Where I'm coming from, is a derailment/explosion which occurred in the small town my wife comes from. This occurred in the fall of 1976. The tank cars that flew through the air when the explosion happened. Look just like the tank cars in use today. That they look the same; but, are not, is fine with me. I model the early 1950s so am not up to speed on 1970s vintage rail cars! I asked a question and you where good enough to answer me, Thanks!
 
What are you hauling? Tank car designs and sizes vary depending on the commodity.

Compressed gas, "general service" liquids, and acid tanks all have different fittings. Tanks can be insulated or uninsulated, and some commodities required steam to be applied through heating coils (hidden under the tank insulation) in order to make the product flow for unloading.

In general though, given that railcars have service lives of up to 40 years (50 for cars built after July 1974) you can have cars from the 1940s-70s in service on your 1970s era layout.

Here's a quick run-down of a few, although I may be missing a bunch. (Caveat: Note this just deals with the car designs, some of the paint schemes offered by the manufacturers may represent more recent re-paints that may not fit your era.)

Compressed Gas tank designs:

Atlas Master ACF 33,000 gal - 1960s compressed gas. LPG (liquified petroleum gas - propanes, butanes, etc.) or anhydrous ammonia service.
Atlas Master ACF 17,360 gal - 1960s-1970s compressed gas. Good for heavier gases like chlorine, sulfur dioxide, refrigerant gases, etc.
Atlas Master ACF 11,000 gal - 1950s compressed gas. Still common in the 1970s in chlorine etc. service
Kadee ACF 11,000 gal - same as above
Walthers 65' LPG - 1960s-1970s compressed gas. LPG/anhydrous ammonia.

Liquid/General service designs:

Atlas Master GATX 20,700 gal - 1960s-70s Non-insulated general liquids service. Good for fuels, oils, tallow, many other products.
Atlas Master ACF 23,500 gal - 1960s insulated general service.
Atlas Master ACF Clay Slurry - 1970s insulated kaolin/limestone clay slurry service. (out of product/not listed on Atlas's site)

Walthers 23,000 gal "Funnel Flow" - 1960s insulated general service. Diesel fuel, asphalt, vegetable oils, many other products.
Walthers 16,000 gal "Funnel Flow" - 1960s insulated. Denser products like molten sulphur, caustic soda, corn syrup, many others.

Athearn RTC 20,900 gal - 1970s non-insulated general service. *versions also exist with fittings for light acids/corrosive products service.

Specialized car designs:

Athearn 14,000 gal acid - 1970s sulphuric acid (out of product/not listed on Athearn's site)
Tangent 8000 gal acid - 1950s various acids still in common use in the 1970s.
You left out the 8000 and 10,000 (rivet and welded) - many of which were built during WW2 and were still in service during the 70's.
 



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