Athearn HO Sulphuric Acid cars

[ljudice]

We need these in N-scale!

http://www.athearn.com/Newsletter/091608/06b_13K_tank_091608.jpg

[Chris333]

As long as they are doing florescent paint jobs:

[Mark5]

As long as they are doing florescent paint jobs:

Hi, I'm Sir Topham Hat, and I approved this message.

[pfs]

Hope the hotlink works....

[Walkercolt]

Then I also want a molten sulfur tankcar, either a "swaybacked" or "droop-bellied". Kinda similar to the Con-Cor shortest tankcar, which was kinda similar to dozens of prototype cars. I'm a tankcar nut, and the difference between the vast number of prototype tankcars and the very few available in N-scale has always bugged me. I literally have hundreds of "proto-photos" of tankcars I've taken, many in an effort to find one "close-enough" to use the older MDC 50' tankcar as a "stand-in" for without major surgury. Always boils down to like making a '61 Plymouth look like a '61 Chevy. I guess it can be done, but is it worth the effort? Oh, just for being a chem major, the this week's preferred spelling is "sulfuric acid", subject to change, again. I think we should go "retro" and call it "Oil of Vitriol" again. ;D

[GaryHinshaw]

I would love to have that car in N - with the same attention to detail as their ethanol tanker.

Now a question - I looked up some proto-photos of the UTLX cars and found that, within a number series, some are painted black and some white.  Does anyone know why?  I thought temperature control was the main factor in this choice, but these cars are all in the same type of service. 

[asarge]

I wouldn't expect alot of brand new N scale Freight car tooling from Atrhearn for awhile.......maybe never. With the money being sunk into the loco's they've done and are doing and the trailers and trucks, there ain't alot left for new freight cars.

[Walkercolt]

You make a very valid point Andy. As for the black vs: white tankcars, the only thing I can see from the sides of the cars is often, the white paint is an epoxy coating; more durable, but more exspensive than plain old black paint. The white is more visable, especially at night, maybe preventing one fool from running into the moving train. Other than those "reasons", I can't see why one corn syrup car at Bama Pie here in town is white and the next two black, and the same thing with acid cars down at Brainerd Chemical(both with-in a mile of my house). ???

[Denver Road Doug]

I would buy a bunch of both the acid cars and the molten sulfur cars.

[ljudice]

I always thought the black/white paint decision was based on whether you wanted to keep the contents cooler or warmer - ie. syrups - black - so they flow easily???

[GaryHinshaw]

With my curiosity piqued, I tried to do a bit of research on the black/white question and I think it comes down to customer choice (I too originally thought temperature control).  If I understand the business model correctly, a company like UTLX leases cars to shippers and works with the shippers to determine the best linings/coatings for their particular application.  They have a nice page on their site that discusses options:

http://www.utlx.com/coating.html

Here's an interesting quote from the page: "Many shippers have told us that they really improve their image among end users when they present better looking railcars."  (Imagine a railroad saying that.)  So I have to guess that the black / white cars within a given number series were leased to different shippers who made different choices.  So if you're a rivet counter you better do your homework. 

Cheers,
Gary

P.S. I love the Internet!  Finding information like this even 10 years ago would have been very tedious.

[Walkercolt]

Lou, from "Thermodynamics 104", a black body loses heat faster than a white body, so a white car should "hold-in" heat better, although it absorbs less heat from the outside. I think "image", safety, visability are the most likely reasons to use something besides black, because I've seen hundreds of "refrigerated liquid" tankcars painted black(usually Ethylene, liquid argon, liquid nitrogen) which you'd think should be white(the semi's are). ???

[asarge]

Insulating materials being as advanced as they are as well as heating and colling systems being the same way, The paint color on a car probably has very little to do with what's on the interior. Black might be preferred because it might not show grime/rust as much as white does.

[ljudice]

Walkercolt - good point - I always looked at those corn syrup cars and figured that was the reason they were black - but I guess they also have those heating/steam pipes in the jacket around the car to warm them up to unload.

Lou