Athearn Acid Tankers. FOOBs?

[GonzoCRFan]

Sulfuric Acid 98% - 15.373 #/gl

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

Carl

Sigma Aldrich lists a 99.999% sulfuric, but the MSDS says the density is the same as their 95-98% stuff. My guess is its so heavy by the time you get it to that point, adding another percent or two isn't going to change the overall mixture much.

[carlso]

Back to the original discussion. I agree with Daniel's assessment that it is a good representation of an acid car, but that Athearn needs to upgrade their model, quit a bit IMHO. They are wanting the same price for what appears to be a model they made several years ago. As I think back several years ago, Athearn was about the only tankers made.

Carl

[Denver Road Doug]

Back to the original discussion. I agree with Daniel's assessment that it is a good representation of an acid car

Wait, I thought you said it was "quite foobie"?

Oh, and "No way, the weight of most acids limit the shipping to 13,000 gallon tank cars".

[Denver Road Doug]

I think the big problem is that the Athearn cars are in "no man's land" for today's market.   Making a generic tank car like this typically doesn't fly today, especially if you apply enough detail to appease the masses, whereby the price is heading toward $30 street and then people cry fowl that it is generic at that price.

In other words, the number of customers that:
(a) Aren't ok with the cars as-is,
(b) Aren't willing to upgrade the cars with etched metal themselves,
...Yet...
(c) ARE willing to spend $25 street price per car on new tooling that is not for a specific prototype car...i.e. "generic"
...is probably infinitesimal.

[carlso]

Oh Doug, I will yield my 15 years experience in working with this stuff to your, no doubt personal experience and expert knowledge regarding loading legal shipments of 98% sulfuric acid. So, please go on.

Carl

[basementcalling]

Oh Doug, I will yield my 15 years experience in working with this stuff to your, no doubt personal experience and expert knowledge regarding loading legal shipments of 98% sulfuric acid. So, please go on.

Carl

Good discussion. Let's keep it focused on the acid, and not let it become acidic.

Pretty sure these are the 20 year old MDC tooling someone said Athearn aquired. The old kits didn't have body mounted couplers, so that is at least one improvement.  Does the color of the center band, black vs rust, have any significance in terms of type of load carried?

Doesn't look to me like the values and hatches up top match the industry versions on acid cars, but I am no expert, which is why I asked.

[Missaberoad]

Oh Doug, I will yield my 15 years experience in working with this stuff to your, no doubt personal experience and expert knowledge regarding loading legal shipments of 98% sulfuric acid. So, please go on.

Carl

Carl,
I completely agree with your statement that Sulfuric acid cars are typically in the 13k gallon range (At least that's the case on the unit trains CP runs up here in Canada) However keep in mind that these cars being discussed are not hauling sulfuric acid...

Here's a photo of a Hydrochloric acid tank car with a capacity of 20720 gallons.
 
http://www.railcarphotos.com/PhotoDetails.php?PhotoID=75901\

The Athearn Tanks are pretty close stand ins besides the detail issues mentioned earlier the hatch detail would need to be modified.

[Denver Road Doug]

Oh Doug, I will yield my 15 years experience in working with this stuff to your, no doubt personal experience and expert knowledge regarding loading legal shipments of 98% sulfuric acid. So, please go on.

Just trying to figure out where you stand.  I'm not the one claiming to be an expert here.   

I would hate to see these cars thrown out with the bathwater.   They're about as close as anything you're gonna easily get in n-scale to the cars they are trying to depict.   If you say they don't haul acid, (despite their labeling) I'm fine with that.   But at the end of the day we're not hauling acid in them on our layouts either, hopefully. 

[carlso]

No problem Doug. I did not say they do not haul acid, I said I questioned the 20,700 gallon capacity as being too large a load on rails for sulfuric acid. Hydrochloric acid is a different beast. Generic "acid terms" were being thrown around, so these cars would not typically be found in all acids service. We're cool.

Carl

[jpwisc]

... The old kits didn't have body mounted couplers, so that is at least one improvement.  Does the color of the center band, black vs rust, have any significance in terms of type of load carried?...

These are advertised as body mounted couplers, but the pics clearly show truck mounted. I'm hoping they are body mounted, but I'm not holding my breath.

The red stripe is an acid resistant paint, I believe that is exclusive to the RCRX cars.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

while on the subject... Anyone know a good match for that oxide red stripe down the middle of the car if I want to upgrade to etched parts I will need to paint it.

[ljudice]

BTW, you know Atlas is doing the Reagent scheme on the next run of it's 20.7k tank:

[ljudice]

Re: color meaning

I was under the impression that the only tank car paint scheme that was "designated" for a commodity
is hydrocyanic acid in the "candy stripe" scheme.

[Denver Road Doug]

BTW, you know Atlas is doing the Reagent scheme on the next run of it's 20.7k tank:

Wow, cool!  I stand corrected.       So that might be the best option then.

Haven't been paying much attention to the N announcements of late.   Been playing in the world of Z for the most part.

It is nice to see they've stopped putting horn-hook couplers on their N-scale artwork.

[GonzoCRFan]

Re: color meaning

I was under the impression that the only tank car paint scheme that was "designated" for a commodity
is hydrocyanic acid in the "candy stripe" scheme.

I've seen some hazmat guides that say they were supposed to be painted in that scheme, but there were probably some exceptions over the years.

The fact that some of those cars are still running around while the public has their panties in a bunch about crude oil just makes me go  ...

I'm pretty sure every hydrogen fluoride tankcar I've ever seen has had a wide orange vertical stripe, similar in size to the RCRX HCL cars.