Athearn Acid Tankers. FOOBs?

[basementcalling]

How big a FOOB are these cars? They look like the old MDC/Roundhouse tank cars to me, but I am not sure of the product history.

I am assuming FOOB because of this line in the product description

All models are representative of prototypical paint schemes

emphasis mine.

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Athearn-N-12221-20-900-Gal-Tank-RCRX-p/ath-12221.htm

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/Athearn-N-12235-20-900-Gal-Tank-UTLX-p/ath-12235.htm

Given there are no actual acid tankers in N scale I am aware of, how legitimate of a stand in are these until someone tools the real thing (Hint to BLMA)

[ljudice]

How Big A Foob???

HOOOOOUUUUGGGEEEEE!!!!

I think "acid" cars vary a lot by the type of acid.

The paint/deco looks nice on them though.

[mu26aeh]

How big a FOOB are these cars? They look like the old MDC/Roundhouse tank cars to me, but I am not sure of the product history.

how legitimate of a stand in are these until someone tools the real thing (Hint to BLMA)

I thought MDC as soon as the page loaded. 

Should send that hint to Atlas now though 

[tom mann]

20 bucks for those old MDC cars?  Amazing.

[unittrain]

20 bucks for those old MDC cars?  Amazing.

Its down right ridiculous given the amount of missing detail and the crude thickness of what details there are and the fact the BLMA cars are amazing and are the same price.

[nscaler711]

I've got a couple of the MDC Cars, so I did a little upgrades... And I mean a little...


Even body mounted couplers...



(yes I realize the ladder is behind the... Whatever its called... Was remedied after I took the photo... )

They could all use a little work, but do some minor upgrades and they aren't so bad in the consist...
Oh and... Um yeah... It's supposed to be a corn syrup car.... But.... Hmmm...

[carlso]

My reply would be that they are quite foobie. They say 20,900 gallon acid car. No way, the weight of most acids limit the shipping to 13,000 gallon tank cars, otherwise they would be over the max 263,000 pounds on rail. In my job as Transportation Field Rep. at the Chevron refinery I saw 3 loads of fresh acid in and they would be off loaded and then backloaded with spent acid and sent to Houston for regeneration. That was 3 in / 3 out 365 days. All of the acid cars in a leased Chevron fleet as well as the cars provided by Rhone Poulenc were 13's. Now, I would imagine that some shippers used maybe 14's but I do not think so.

Always have fun,

Carl

[Denver Road Doug]

I dunno, as Foobies go I gotta say I've seen MUCH worse.  Much, much worse.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=1760090

Do the updates, swallow the stupid price, and you've got a pretty workable car that beats the others to market by ten years at least I bet.

[Denver Road Doug]

Oh, almost forgot.  Atlas does a similar scheme, on a less foobie car.

http://www.atlasrr.com/Images/NFreightCars/n17360tanker/0707/40682_TQ.jpg

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3660523

Note: those aren't labeled as Hydrochloric Acid like the other, so I don't know if this is apples to apples from that standpoint.   Personally, the cars I see around here in that scheme *look* more like the MDC/Athearn car.   But of course the Atlas tank cars are extremely nice looking cars and no upgrades needed other than the Accumates and some metal wheels.

I do like it that Atlas got fancy and called the band color "Terra Cotta".   

[nkalanaga]

Nscaler711:  Nice job! 

If you want a little more detail, adding a train line would give a little more underframe detail.  All it would need is a piece of wire, from bolster to bolster, along the bottom of the tank, and some mounts made from eyebolts, lift rings, or simply loops of wire.  No need to repaint the car, just drill two or three holes holes for the mounts, thread them onto the piece of wire, and glue them in.  The ends of the wire can hide in the stub center sills, which isn't quite right, but behind the wheels it won't show, and it can be painted flat black with a brush.

No need for full brake detail, just tell anyone who asks that it has truck mounted brake cylinders.

[John]

@nscaler711 -- Nice job .. I've done the same with some of mine . those little things improve the looks a lot .. also, the wire is more sturdy than similar piping on the high end models ..

[jpwisc]

While the Athearn/MDC cars lack detailing, they can be upgraded pretty easily. On future ones I'll spend more time sanding the seam after I fill it, but you get the idea. I used the GMM etched detail kit on some undec bodies I got off eBay a while back.

n kalanaga you are right that the extra brake detail would look even better.



The dimensions on the Athearn car look decent when I compare them to my photos. I just wish they'd build them as well as they do their 2 Bay hoppers (etched metal walkways and body mounted couplers).

[GonzoCRFan]

My reply would be that they are quite foobie. They say 20,900 gallon acid car. No way, the weight of most acids limit the shipping to 13,000 gallon tank cars, otherwise they would be over the max 263,000 pounds on rail. In my job as Transportation Field Rep. at the Chevron refinery I saw 3 loads of fresh acid in and they would be off loaded and then backloaded with spent acid and sent to Houston for regeneration. That was 3 in / 3 out 365 days. All of the acid cars in a leased Chevron fleet as well as the cars provided by Rhone Poulenc were 13's. Now, I would imagine that some shippers used maybe 14's but I do not think so.

Sounds like you were dealing with some pretty high-test sulfuric or phosphoric. Commercial hydrochloric isn't nearly as heavy, so larger cars are used for that stuff.

It would certainly be nice to see someone offer an actual sulfuric acid car, though.

[carlso]

Gonzo,

You are right, I am talking about 100% concentration, virgin, sulfuric acid. It was used in the alkylation process and was shipped back to Houston, for regeneration, at 98% concentration. Somebody finally wised up and had an acid plant built in the refinery for regen of the spent. Much cheaper, in the long run, than shipping 2,200 carloads of acid per year.

Just as info,I just found a chart from Bates Chemical that shows the #/gallon on several products:

Sulfuric Acid 20% - 9.59 #/gl

Sulfuric Acid 93% - 15.303 #/gl

Sulfuric Acid 98% - 15.373 #/gl

They did not list 100% but it is most likely around 16#/gl ? ?.

Carl

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I did a thread on upgrading these cars years ago. When I did the math based on width and length, I came up with 18-21,000 gallons depending on the method. But this doesn't account for interior lining, insulation and heating coils, all of which can be present in this type of car. It wouldn't surprise me that some tanks are more than 8" thick, which would reduce the capacity considerably.

If Athearn got if their a$$ and actually retooled the car in par with their other tanks, these would be really accurate acid tanks.