# Fifteen Fine Tankcars!



## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

I mentioned on the threads about the Menards boxcars, how much I wanted a whole train of tankcars but at Menards prices. I've had a very specific picture in my mind of a long train of weathered black tank cars.

These are exactly what I wanted: fifteen MTH Railking 1/48 scale or so close I can't tell (11.5 inches long, height and width to match) ten of eleven thousand gallon single dome tank cars. I paid about 60% more than Menards prices, but got more detail (separately applied ladders, railings, fitings, etc), slightly smoother couplers, and really good bearings - these things roll off on their own down a very gentle slope where many other cars don't. 

Patrick of Patrick's Trains worked with me on this and I can't say enough about how happy I am with that. I didn't even try to sort through 54+ pages of tank cars on his website. I just explained what I wanted and gave him the budget I had in mind. He found me eight colorful "Old Frothingslosh" beer cars and seven Texas Railcar Supply cars at just a bit over what I wanted to spend. Close enough.

















I'm going to repaint these all with _four _"shades" of black using rattle cans: semi-gloss (gloss is too glossy), satin, flat, and barbeque grill black, relabel them all in my own fictional livery, and then slightly weather them. But they look pretty neat now, if a bit - no much - too colorful.


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## Bob Phillips (Nov 25, 2014)

I like long trains. Tank cars look very good as is. like color.
Bob P


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## rdeal (Mar 6, 2013)

Mr Lee - fun photos - looks great and will look better when you finish

nice work

maybe one should keep one - just one - "Olde Frtothingslosh"
this car is so cool

i also like tank cars - i have all the Lionel Christmas tank cars except the
following two tank cars from the “Santa Flyer Set”

2011	3-Dome Santa Flyer Hot Coco Tank Car
2011	3-Dome Candy Cain/Lionel Peppermint Co (Red on White)	

rdeal


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## Wood (Jun 9, 2015)

*Canon City RR*

I like that steamer. No tender? Is it an oiler? I think I remember that engine as one of your customizations. 

Any tank car pulled behind a western steamer should be grimy black. And, did I read the name correctly, on the engine, as Canon City? 

Patrick's trains has been good to you in getting that collection at a good price. 60% above Menard's is not bad for detailed MTH rolling stock.


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## Guest (Jun 30, 2015)

Lee, looks great!!


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

Wood said:


> I like that steamer. No tender? Is it an oiler? I think I remember that engine as one of your customizations.
> 
> Any tank car pulled behind a western steamer should be grimy black. And, did I read the name correctly, on the engine, as Canon City?
> 
> Patrick's trains has been good to you in getting that collection at a good price. 60% above Menard's is not bad for detailed MTH rolling stock.


You are correct that you have seen this before, Wood. It is one of the locomotives I had running when you visited. The tank engine at the head of this train is a heavily bashed Lionchief Plus Hudson, made to have a scale size cab, etc, and fashioned as much as possible after the NYC/Boston and Albany 4-6-6Ts. It is a coal burner, having a very small real coal load behind he cab, as many tank engines did, that I added as one of the last steps. 

I agree tank cars should be black. that is how I picture them, and in addition to smoke staining them, realize many carried very black materials, and so would get dirty that way. And this is just how I picture them, although also of slightly different shapes and finish, as in the real world, and weathered a bi - again as real world.

Patricks has become my go to place since my local LHS Tom's Train station, retire. I am more than pleased with the service and smart anticipation of my needs, etc.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

That's great Lee, those are very nice looking tank cars. I agree, they'll look great in black, that's the color of many that I see coming by at local crossings.


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## Wood (Jun 9, 2015)

I posted on the wrong thread - Sorry


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> That's great Lee, those are very nice looking tank cars. I agree, they'll look great in black, that's the color of many that I see coming by at local crossings.


Thanks, I'm frustrated at being unable to jump into doing them now. I need to sett up a production line, basically. But I am in the middle of doing that upper level and the wiring for it now, and it is a mess that totally dominates the train room. 

I see these types of cars rolling by once a week - have to stop for a train taking the back road to work - the ones I see are noticeably bigger than these would be in real life - 20K to 30K gallon I think, but all black but in various from almost glossy to very chalky, most well weathered and a bit rusty. 

a tank car should be black, maroon, or something like that. I suppose if you were carrying beer, you would have a colorful car like "Old Frothingslosh," but that seems weird - I would think a tank of beer sloshing around would eventually explode from the pressure of the foam. You might say, particularly if it were a lower-calorie beer, it would "LITE up" the whole area around it when it did. :laugh:


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Lee Willis said:


> You might say, particularly if it were a lower-calorie beer, it would "LITE up" the whole area around it when it did. :laugh:


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## Patrick1544 (Apr 27, 2013)

Cool string of tankers, Lee.


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## Yellowstone Special (Jun 23, 2015)

That's the most colorful string of detailed tank cars I've ever seen. Now I'm curious to see what they'll look like in black, when the time comes.


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

*One Down, Fourteen to Go*

I'm deep into another, big project, but I needed a break and relaly wanted to do one of these, so this morning I did. 

It comes apart easily. Three screws at each end (two short, one long) and the trucks come off with their framework. The metal railing/whatever pull out, the railings on the end come out, too. This is not totally dis-assembled: two more screws and the end caps pull off - I thought about the option of leaving then red or painting them white, etc., but no . . . 









I use Goo-Gone to remove logos and graphics. It does this quickly - it took only ten minutes too remove and lcean up Note the 'shadow' left where the letters and all were . . . . This is three dimensional, a slightly heavier, raised area. A bit of #320 sandpaper to lessen its edges, and I moved on . . . 








I took a chance. Goo-Gone softens the paint and probably leaves a residue that paint might no like. NOrmally I would use primer first, then paint. But I washed the tank with dishwashing detergent and water, let it dry. I used Rustoleum 2X = paint and Primer in one, flat black rattle can. I was worried the paint might not like the Goo Gone residue but there was no sign of it. Two hours later it was dry and hard enough . . .








I re-assembled the car, discovering that a secret to good alignment is to install the short screws on the sides of the framework before screwing in the long one in the middle, that goes into the botom of the tank. 








I used 1/4 inch Headline Sign vinyl press on letters to apply the name of my fictional railroad, and a number to the car. 








I also cut out two small rectangular areas of the vinyl off the edge of the sheet and applied them for warning and data sign areas, etc. 








Their graphics were much better than mine when you get within two inches . . . . 








Here it is on the layout, looking very much like I wanted it to look. Yes, all that black with the loco and the cars will be monotonous. That is sort of the idea. 








This one was painted flat black, and yet you see it has a nice dull glow to it. I will probalby weather it likely (Neolube on the wheels and trucks, some light rust, etc. But not now. And maybe not. This is attractive in its own way. 








I will probably do these two to three at a time over the next several weeks, as I get to poins where I am a bit tired of other projects. As I said earlier, as I do the rest, I will vary the sheen from a bit glossier than this (satin) to even duller (BBQ grill black) to get a more "natural" variation in car color. I will also vary the label slightly, using "C C B & G C" (for Canon City, Blanca, and Glen Canyon) instead of CANON CITY on some - same RR, but sort of like having AT&SF and SANTA FE labels on some cars belong to the Atchinson, Topeka, and Santa Fe. All cars will be different numbers, of course: that is one place where Menards definately has a good idea.


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## rdeal (Mar 6, 2013)

*nice work*

nice work - thanks for the photo "essay"

rdeal


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

That one looks great Lee, and the vinyl lettering really works well on those! :thumbsup:


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## Yellowstone Special (Jun 23, 2015)

Awesome! Now, THAT'S a tank car. Wish I had a fraction of Lee's skills for modeling and tweeking.


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## Wood (Jun 9, 2015)

Super.. Looks great and the Canon City tanker consist will be a sight to behold!


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## Guest (Jul 1, 2015)

:thumbsup: Great job!


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Nicely done Lee!


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

*They are done!!!*

All fifteen are done. Again, these are all MTH Railking tank cars, scale size (or so close I can't tell) 10,000 gallon. They were rather colorful and of different companies/logos, etc., but are now all a uniform, and very real-world, black. I sanded the final 14 cars to remove the graphics, names, locos, rather than used Goof Off as on the first. Ultimately, I decided not to vary the hue and sheen by using satin on some and flat on the other: all fifteen are painted with Rustoleum 2X Primer-Paint - flat canyon black applied rather wet to get a nice light sheen. I also labeled all as my "CANON CITY" fictional railroad rather than a few as its alternate "C.C.B.& G.C." Again, press on vinyl lettering applied one letter or number at a time. All are individually numbered (not consecutively, but by randomly picking from a range four digit numbers over 2K and under 4K.)

I think the monotone black and white of these cars looks best sandwiched between more colorful locos and cabooses to provide a contrast for this rolling pipeline. Here they are with an armor-yellow UP caboose at the rear, pulled by MTH's lovely NW-2 switcher and calf set, again, in UP armor yellow. I REALLY like the result.

I may leave them like this, or weather them: haven't decided. 
























I did the cars in batches of four. Cumulatively, the time per car breaks done to:
- disassembly: 4 minutes
- sanding off the lettering and logos, etc: 16 minutes 
- painting: 1 minute each car (then I let each set of four dry 24 hours)
- re-assembly: 7 minutes
- applying the new lettering: 15 minutes
For a total of 43 minutes per car of roughly eleven hours total; I worked on them mostly while watching the British Gran Prix, World Cup, Tour de France, Nascar, etc. on TV,


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## Yellowstone Special (Jun 23, 2015)

They look great and your meticulous work paid off! That's a fine looking train.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Very nice Lee, they really came out great! I love the look of unit trains like that, and tank cars are one of my favorites. :thumbsup:


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## Wood (Jun 9, 2015)

Yes it is a "sight to behold". Good looking rig. That will be fun running on your long stretches in the country. Have fun.


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

A sight "to behold," or"to bore" . . . at least in the real world. We often drive up into West Virginia and Virginia, staying off the Interstates because it is more interesting, and seem to always get stuck at crossings watching a long train go by at a slow speed. Tank car trains are the most boring because they are as I modeled them - every car the same shape, the same color, the same RR, just one after another rolling by forever. My wife pointed out that even a train load of container cars are more entertaining - colors and logos vary all over the place.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Lee, the great part of having them on your layout is you don't have to wait at the crossing.


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## BobS (Jun 18, 2015)

I think Johnny Carson, in the very early days of his time on the tonight show, used to do a bit on Olde Frothingslosh. 

I'll take the different path, as I always do. I like color, the more, the better. If nothing else, my trains are colorful. But, the road you travel, in your hobby's pursuit is your own, and the great thing is, that each of us can choose his or her own way of doing things. It's part of the fun of this whole enterprise.

That said, yours look very good in their finished state.


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## TomW2034 (Jun 2, 2015)

*I thought it was a neat tank car idea*



BobS said:


> I think Johnny Carson, in the very early days of his time on the tonight show, used to do a bit on Olde Frothingslosh...


The Internet agrees it was invented in the fifties as a gag. But then it became real:

http://hoaxes.org/weblog/comments/olde_frothingslosh_pale_stale_ale

Tom


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Lee, best looking boring set of tank cars ive seen! Where does one find those letters? They look neat.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Lee gets them at DIY Lettering. If you do your own "weeding", they're very cheap, it's just a little more work.


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## sjm9911 (Dec 20, 2012)

Cool!


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

15 leads to another 15, then another, then another.

Lee's tanker yard will soon look like this,











Credit: Courtesy of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania 

Pennsylvania's oil industry, the nation's first, was also dependent upon railroad transportation. In the late 1800s John D. Rockefeller bought up the nation's railroad tank car fleet to cement his monopoly of the American oil industry.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

That's a lot of tank cars!


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

gunrunnerjohn said:


> That's a lot of tank cars!


That picture is only showing half of them.


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

Wow! Think of how many shelves I'd have to build to hold them all when they aren't on the layout!


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## tooter (Feb 26, 2010)

Lee, that's some meticulous modelling, 
and what personally satisfying results. 
I admire your well thought out method. :appl: :smilie_daumenpos:


Greg


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

tooter said:


> Lee, that's some meticulous modelling,
> and what personally satisfying results.
> I admire your well thought out method. :appl: :smilie_daumenpos:
> 
> ...


Thanks, tooter. Projects like that are a lot of fun.


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## josef (Jun 20, 2015)

Lee, As to Tank cars, I like the look of long, black tank cars. We see it all the time. On my layout, what is boring is when I made up a train of nothing but Tuscan red bocars with a few reddish Gondolas. It was ugly oing by. Finally had to add some colorfull cars into consist.
Also enjoy long coal cars, thought I add different lines to my consist.


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I'm a big fan of unit trains with a string of similar or identical cars, I just think they look like what I typically see waiting at the crossings.


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## TomW2034 (Jun 2, 2015)

*Cool pic*



big ed said:


> 15 leads to another 15, then another, then another.
> 
> Lee's tanker yard will soon look like this..


:appl:

Awesome picture.

Tom


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

TomW2034 said:


> :appl:
> 
> Awesome picture.
> 
> Tom



John D. Rockefeller did ALL things in BIG way!
I wish he was my Grandfather.


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

You think I am anywhere near the size of the yard in the picture?
These are my HO tankers, I do have a few more then what is on the table, I think I have more in O but I never took them all out to take a picture yet.

There are a lot of oil tankers in that picture, and the shot does not show them all!

Can someone count them in that picture please?


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Can't you count that high Ed?


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## josef (Jun 20, 2015)

big ed said:


> View attachment 63025
> 
> 
> You think I am anywhere near the size of the yard in the picture?
> ...


When I was in "N" scale, almost 25 years. I loved cabooses. I would buy them every chance I got. Before I gave it all away, or sold the scale, I had over 250 cabooses, (of course many doubles, triples, etc.). I made up several consist, running on the 4 separated rails, it was amazing to watch. I have a picture and video I made. When I find them, I'll post.


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