Which tankcars for home heating oil?

[Missaberoad]

Not sure how prototypical the orange dome is, but Bachmann's Tidewater tank car would be a good regional New England car.

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Bachmann-N-Single-Dome-Tank-Car-Tide-p/bac-17859.htm

[Palouse51]

a good resource is the opsig industry database .. its a list of known industries on railroads for various time frames .. so if you want to know what propane dealers there were in maine in 1950, it should be able to tell you ..

Its a free windows download here   http://www.shenware.com/dlindman.html

see the attached file, and load it into a spreadsheet

John, the exe file at the site you linked does me no good because I'm not running Windows so I can't extract the files from it. The file (OpSigEST.txt) you uploaded on the other hand works fine when I run it in Libre Office. Looks to me like some pretty useful info.

Could you upload the one for western roads? OPSigWST.txt

[Palouse51]

Ok, cancel the above request. I found it, including other versions at http://www.opsig.org/reso/inddb/
Anyways, thanks John, for bringing this info to my attention.

Oh, no edit option for my previous post? I was surprised to find I had to made a new post for this.

[bbussey]

Texaco still had their 103s in service in 1970, although the only ones I've seen pictures of were black.  There's no reason they couldn't have had some of the silver billboard style cars, as they weren't banned, like billboard reefers years ago...

Perhaps. But AFAIK the silver tanks were 8k gallons, which if InterMountain has done have been long discontinued. The black MTL Texaco release from a year or two ago is accurate.

... Oh, no edit option for my previous post? I was surprised to find I had to made a new post for this.

I believe you have to hit a certain post-count before other functionality becomes available.

[bbussey]

... many also sold Coal,so some 50-55-60 ton double hoppers from one of
  the Anthracite roads like Lackawanna,D&H,CNJ,LV,Reading,O&W,or Erie woudnt
  be out of place.

To expand on this — Both B&M and NH had huge twin-bay hopper fleets in the 1950s. And for some reason, there was a large presence of B&O equipment as well. The Atlas fish belly twin and Atlas offset twin are correct for most if not all of the anthracite roads listed above, as well as B&O. The Atlas offset twin is correct for B&M. The Bachmann USRA twin is correct for both B&O and NH, but would require custom painting (the stock B&O deco is incorrect).

[garethashenden]

To expand on this — Both B&M and NH had huge twin-bay hopper fleets in the 1950s. And for some reason, there was a large presence of B&O equipment as well. The Atlas fish belly twin and Atlas offset twin are correct for most if not all of the anthracite roads listed above, as well as B&O. The Atlas offset twin is correct for B&M. The Bachmann USRA twin is correct for both B&O and NH, but would require custom painting (the stock B&O deco is incorrect).

For the B&M there were 200 2 bay hoppers, half ex c&O and half bought new. They also had 1000 quad hoppers which I'm planning to get from Broadway Limited when they're released in a few months. I believe that these were all used for tide coal and that the majority were used for locomotive coal which explains the rapid decline in numbers following the end of steam.

[John]

John, the exe file at the site you linked does me no good because I'm not running Windows so I can't extract the files from it. The file (OpSigEST.txt) you uploaded on the other hand works fine when I run it in Libre Office. Looks to me like some pretty useful info.

Could you upload the one for western roads? OPSigWST.txt

Did you try to run it under WINE? -- there are other text files with the rest of the country inside that zip .. I would encourage you to do a Libre Office version of this database ... and share it

[Ed Kapuscinski]

As for what cars to use, the simple answer is that almost any tank car with a frame and a dome would work.

Incorrect!

Tank cars come in many varieties, pressurized cars, non-pressurized cars, and endless sub groupings within that. I think that's why the OP was asking.

[bbussey]

For the B&M there were 200 2 bay hoppers, half ex c&O and half bought new. They also had 1000 quad hoppers which I'm planning to get from Broadway Limited when they're released in a few months. I believe that these were all used for tide coal and that the majority were used for locomotive coal which explains the rapid decline in numbers following the end of steam.

@garethashenden — What area of New England are you modeling, and which road is your primary?  Interesting tidbit on the (apparent) over-representation of B&O hopper equipment throughout New England, good to know.

[garethashenden]

@garethashenden — What area of New England are you modeling, and which road is your primary?  Interesting tidbit on the (apparent) over-representation of B&O hopper equipment throughout New England, good to know.

I model the Boston & Maine in south western New Hampshire. Mogul country, although I don't have any moguls yet. 

[Hornwrecker]

Did you try to run it under WINE? -- there are other text files with the rest of the country inside that zip .. I would encourage you to do a Libre Office version of this database ... and share it

The SetupIndMan.exe file will install and run under WINE in Linux.  Seems to function as it is supposed to, although I can't figure out if there's a way to increase font size in that program. So tiny.

[bbussey]

... [B&M] also had 1000 quad hoppers which I'm planning to get from Broadway Limited when they're released in a few months. I believe that these were all used for tide coal and that the majority were used for locomotive coal which explains the rapid decline in numbers following the end of steam.

Hmmm ... I'll have to pick up a stray single when they hit the streets.  I like to support new model endeavors, and getting one in a valid New England road is always preferred.

[Iain]

Interestingly, the one photo I have seen of a coal hopper at Beaufort Coal and Ice in Beaufort, NC shows a C&O car.  I have also seen C&O cars loading coal tipples in NS yards.

[nkalanaga]

Ed:  True, but most pressurized cars have manways, not "traditional" domes, and the selection of 1950s appropriate types in N scale is somewhat limited.  There are a lot of models, but not that many types.  Almost any era-appropriate N scale model with a dome and a full frame is probably some variation of a 103.

Bryan:  Thank you.  I've never seen a prototype picture of their silver tank cars, so wasn't sure if they were accurate at all.  I have one of the black ones, but will keep my silver ones anyway.  An inaccurate car on a fictional branch sounds about right...

[Mark5]

I've never seen a prototype picture of their silver tank cars, so wasn't sure if they were accurate at all.  I have one of the black ones, but will keep my silver ones anyway.  An inaccurate car on a fictional branch sounds about right...

Here's one:

http://steamerafreightcars.com/gallery/tank/tcx3883main.html

And another (10k gallon):

http://steamerafreightcars.com/gallery/tank/tcx7197main.html

Mark