MDC/Roundhouse 30' Modern Tank Car

[Chris333]

Not sure of the colors. I used to live close to the plant when I was a kid. And I went to kindergarten right down the road. My Dad told "stories" that when a tankcar was contaminated they would bury it... 

Fun fact this little field is where they used to have company picnics. You can see GA on one gate and TX on the other:
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.1936177,-80.5329166,3a,22.2y,33.89h,82.72t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sLeyFVEtgZ42vOUcXQ5eU_Q!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D7.282843567827143%26panoid%3DLeyFVEtgZ42vOUcXQ5eU_Q%26yaw%3D33.88844120043059!7i13312!8i6656?entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDgyNS4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D

Another fun fact. The jumbo tankcar photo is also shown at the same location. Same power lines and you see Sharon Steel blast furnaces in the background. Sharon PA was on the other side of the fence from GATX in Masury OH
http://www.railgoat.railfan.net/railwhales/bynumber/gatx096500.htm

More fun. The "G" used to stand for German, but they later changed it to General.

No more fun.

OK more fun. These are pics I took at the same spot that shows the high tension power lines:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/UppHXq3e2rB1LpAZ8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/UJFQiswgkDLFAJMd7

[garethashenden]

Changed from German American to General American in 1916. I wonder why...

[learmoia]

Same colors as this one:

In this photo, I think 1984 is coupled to 96500...

At one time I saw a photo of the two together but now I can't find it.

Wait... (not the photo I'm thinking of.. but....)

[lock4244]

In this photo, I think 1984 is coupled to 96500...

At one time I saw a photo of the two together but now I can't find it.

Wait... (not the photo I'm thinking of.. but....)

Boy, that little tankcar is having some performance anxiety beside that whale 

[Iain]

In follow-up to the Atlas car's obvious age, with it's fat rim, I think this might be a good place for 3D printing too. Gary Hinshaw has done some excellent detail parts for well cars using a 3D printer. That, or one could fall back on fine wire and wire mesh sheet and a bit of soldering. It's been done.


Honestly, the GMM detail kit itself is long in the tooth compared some of the etchings produced in N scale in recent history. GMM's tread openings were big enough for N scale tank car attendants to twist their ankles on. BLMA etchings were much finer than GMM etchings, though we no longer have BLMA to count on, and it doesn't seem like Atlas plans on improving on that product line it bought out. I look at the amount of etchings available to European and Japanese modelers and it feels like America is well behind in etching detail availability. Of course, no one gets rich from those sort of product lines...


Personally, I'd kill for someone to release a large fret of boxcar ladders (enough to do 10-20 cars at a time); I have a lot of IMRC 40' boxcars that could use finer replacement ladders and would probably shave off a lot of cast-on ladders on other cars if I knew there was an regular supply of affordable alternative. I keep hoping a company like KV Models will look more at the N scale market. RIP BLMA. In the meantime, I have a slew of old BLMA and GMM etchings I might try to reverse engineer on my own and improve.

I'm kicking around 3D printing a mount for n-possible couplers for my Atlas car.

I emailed KV Models about giving N scale some love and the response I got was so hostile it left a bad taste in my mouth.

[randgust]

Wow, that brings back memories.

I made three 'normal' frameless tank cars out of hacked-up Roundhouse shorties and added all wire handrails and details, including the safety railings underneath.   Best cars I had until MT and Atlas caught up.   They still look good enough to keep in service.

If you can still lay your mitts on any of the GMM detail sets, you can make some pretty nice cars out of those shells.    One of my favorite cars is the Trix LPG tanker stripped down and redone with the etched brass parts.  The chunky plastic stuff all gets replaced with brass.   The only thing they dont put on is the safety railings, and that's one of the most noticeable cool details on any frameless car including these little guys.

The elusive GMM set for these MDC cars is 160-23 by the way.

I'll still never understand why Atlas did a model of that whale GATX tank.   That GATX prototype car was a complete failure, a one-off, and essentially a blunder and a half destined for stuffing and mounting in the St. Louis railroad museum.http://www.railgoat.railfan.net/railwhales/bynumber/gatx096500.htm
The second slightly smaller one at least had something resembling a service life, with a rather ironic end:  http://www.railgoat.railfan.net/railwhales/bynumber/utlx083699.htm

[Iain]

Are there any photos showing how the brakes were setup on these cars?  I can see the reservoir and triple valve but not the cylinder.

[Missaberoad]

Are there any photos showing how the brakes were setup on these cars?  I can see the reservoir and triple valve but not the cylinder.

Truck mounted brakes on the General American examples I've seen.

Some of the North American and Union Tank built cars have conventional brake rigging.