Walthers Gas tank kit - any experience to share?

[nickelplate759]

For some reason I've always wanted a natural gas holder tank for the layout (the kind that goes up and down as it fills and empties), and the old Walthers kit seems like the one most typical of North American style tanks.  It's out of production, but I can find one - for around $60(!).

Before I shell out that much $$ for an old plastic kit, I'd kind of like to know if it's any good - so, does anyone have an experience with this kit to share?

Here's a link to the Walthers' web listing:
https://www.walthers.com/gas-storage-tank-kit-6-3-8-quot-16-2cm-diameter-x-6-3-8-quot-16-2cm-tall

[OldEastRR]

Why not go with the HO one? You'd replace the plastic railings steps and ladders with scale brass ones, anyway (or you should; the plastic ones are gross). Those tanks were pretty humongous. Scan the Walthers pic, cut out the truck and make it half size, then put it next to the original picture to get an idea how big it looks in N.
Those tanks have no scale reference other than the ladders, etc. The structural steel would be bigger in N but the tank would be bigger too, meaning heavier structural supports for it.  Besides, it's on sale at Walthers right now (the HO) for $38.
Then you can follow the Daves and LIRR and go into HO. 

[Rasputen]

I had a kit, I think mine was a Piko version.  As OldEastRR stated, the railings and ladders are way too thick.  In my opinion the framework was too thick as well.  I thought about having a PE set made but in the end I simply sold mine at a swap meet.  I would definitely locate an ad that shows the N scale version or the contents of the box before I shelled out that kind of money.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Well... at 6" diameter, it strikes me as being WAYYY smaller than the actual things.

[nickelplate759]

Much like my layout is far smaller than the real thing....

The HO kit is about 9" in diameter - still small, I agree   I do recall seeing small (prototype) ones, but suspect they were for some other purpose than storage. 

[thomasjmdavis]

Some industries (steel mills, for instance) that use a lot of gas often have one on the property - I assume so they could maintain a constant gas pressure.  Some of those (at least in photos) look smaller than the huge municipal ones.  And OLD ones (use of natural gas going back to the late 18th century in Europe), at least in England, were limited to very small size due to safety concerns.

Most model storage tank structures are way too small. What passes for oil storage tanks (as in petroleum tank farms) sure look a lot smaller than the real thing. 

While I don't blindly trust wikipedia, I'm guessing they are probably pretty close with their estimate that an average gas holding tank is 50,000 cubic meters and about 200 feet in diameter (15" in N scale).  I got caught on grain elevators the other day, so not going to stick my neck out and say the Walthers kit is too small to be prototypical, but they probably did model it after one of the smallest real ones they could find.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_holder
Tom D

[Mark W]

I've only built the old Piko kit, and think the $6 I paid for it is still too much.  Unless this one builds itself, $60 is a bit absurd for an old plastic kit.  If the supports and such were etched parts, then maybe $60 would be reasonable.  Over-sized plastic? No way.

I'd vote for scratchbuilding.

[JoeD]

Well there's the old reliable Kimchi Gas Works from John Allen you can make.  http://gdlines.info/G&D_Files.htm
   

This is the article that shows how it's done.  I would loose the quarter round walk arounds and just make the deck a bit thicker...this was for servicing and not some promenade  LOL

Joe

[nickelplate759]

by the way, I note that the Walthers web-catalog and box photo for the N-scale version is actually the HO kit.  In fact, it's the same photo as the HO box, but with mirror-imaged and with the lettering on the hopper cars "airbrushed" out.   So I don't actually know what the N-scale kit would look like.

I'd forgotten about the John Allen tank.  Thanks for the pointer!