MDC/Roundhouse 30' Modern Tank Car

[jwaldo]

Indeed.  About half of the cars I have photos of have roller bearing trucks though.

Ed, there's pretty good discussion of the types of commodities here:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?3,414584

So basically they carry the heavy nasty stuff. Having worked with hydrofluoric acid, I don't want to be in the same ZIP code as a whole tank car full of it, no matter HOW short it is 

[Mark5]

The beer cans also carry Molasses and Corn Syrup. 

[nkalanaga]

Maybe the car in the picture does have roller bearings.  GN's 71000-71099 series covered hoppers, 1951, came with roller bearings, it says so on the side of the car.  But the trucks look like regular cast-frame trucks, with journal box covers.  The covers were later removed on at least some cars.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

The beer cans also carry Molasses and Corn Syrup. 

The corn syrup thing is surprising to me, but I guess it makes sense given the rise in HFCS in the 70s and 80s.

Before that it's not such a common commodity that specialty cars would be designed for it so more "off the shelf" designs fit the bill. I bet the the growth of infrastructure for 100T cars also helped drive the switch because 17,000 Gallons of corn syrup has to weigh quite a bit.

[Jesse6669]

With all due respect to Roundhouse and Atlas, those bolsters/platforms and handrails are chonky.. Did someone make an etched upgrade for these (N Scale of Nevada or something)?  If there's interest, I'd be tempted to do a 3D printed model in Z and N.  Adding weight will be an interesting challenge though (fill the tank with tungsten putty or lead I suppose?).

[Ed Kapuscinski]

With all due respect to Roundhouse and Atlas, those bolsters/platforms and handrails are chonky.. Did someone make an etched upgrade for these (N Scale of Nevada or something)?  If there's interest, I'd be tempted to do a 3D printed model in Z and N.  Adding weight will be an interesting challenge though (fill the tank with tungsten putty or lead I suppose?).

In their defense, the tooling does date from approximately 200 BCE.

[Mark5]

With all due respect to Roundhouse and Atlas, those bolsters/platforms and handrails are chonky.. Did someone make an etched upgrade for these (N Scale of Nevada or something)? 

GMM: https://goldmm.com/nscale/gmnfrdet.htm (GMM is closed)

I have a kit for the sole example in my "fleet" (I don't remember seeing many of these "back in the day").

Hopefully, someone will manage to pick up the Gold Medal line, for the time being, you can still find this kit: https://midwestmodelrr.com/gmm16024/?searchid=0&search_query=160-24 (only one left!)

Huge improvement to this ancient tooling:

Mark

[Mark5]

Plano Models used to to have a detail kit for the MDC beer can (#235): https://web.archive.org/web/20190108090431/http://www.planomodelproducts.com/ntankcar_scq.html

It wasn't as comprehensive as the GMM kit for the Atlas car.

On the current Plano site, it's a dead link though. https://www.planomodelproducts.com

[sirenwerks]

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.

[basementcalling]

Frankly, I'm rather shocked to learn either of these models actually has a prototype that's in ballpark range of their tooling. I'd always thought they were orphans, especially the Atlas model.

[Chris333]

That prototype photo posted is from the GATX plant in Masury Ohio. Those powerlines in the background are still there.

Here is one with a similar number:
https://www.rr-fallenflags.org/gatx/gatx34528akg.jpg
https://www.rr-fallenflags.org/gatx/gatx34528j14.jpg

https://www.rr-fallenflags.org/gatx/gatx1984abb.jpg

[eja]

Nice to see some photo's of these cars .  Having never, ever, seen one in the wild, I thought the Atlas Beer Can tanks were a complete foob.

[sirenwerks]

That prototype photo posted is from the GATX plant in Masury Ohio. Those powerlines in the background are still there.

https://www.rr-fallenflags.org/gatx/gatx1984abb.jpg
[/quote


I wonder what colors GATX 1984 was. I presume white with a grey or a pale blue on the bottom. The other two are too late for me, all that data screams 1980s and newer.

[NSEGeorge]

Same colors as this one:

[sirenwerks]

Same colors as this one:

Thanks! I corrected the color a bit on your link and then switched it to B&W mode and the grey tone is pretty much spot on.