Steam & Excursion > Rio Grande Tank Cars

What is the approximate gallonage of the narrow gauge tank cars? So far Google is not being my friend.

Posted from Android

Doug Wetherhold
Macungie, PA

The friends of the Cumbres & Toltec site seems hard to navigate. One pictures shows a tank car UTLX 12757 rated at 60,000 lbs. total car weight is 32,000lbs but no gallons. blt date 01-08

At an average weight for 36 gravity crude oil of 7 pounds per gallon, with 28,000 pounds capacity, that gives a gallon capacity of 4000 gallons, or 95 barrels (42 gallons).

That seems very realistic.

Thanks. I'm thinking about an HOn3 tank on a standard gauge frame. This is the pipe dream. It may not be exact, but it might be close

Doug Wetherhold
Macungie, PA

---

About how old is that picture of the chlorine tank car.
That's  some of the nasti-est stuff to hauling around...

Gives me the shivvers to think about it...

​W.

wcamp1472 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> About how old is that picture of the chlorine tank
> car.
> That's  some of the nasti-est stuff to hauling
> around...
>
> Gives me the shivvers to think about it...
>
> ​W.

I have no idea off hand. It's a picture I saved off the net. It's not recent, as I don't recall seeing tanks this small for years.

Posted from Android

Doug Wetherhold
Macungie, PA

Chlorine cars used to be very common as most sewage treatment plants with a siding got chlorine that way,
still done in many places.

Out 

"a tank car
> UTLX 12757 rated at 60,000 lbs. total car weight
> is 32,000lbs but no gallons. blt date 01-08 car"

The numbers don't make sense:  capacity is 60, 000 lbs, total car weight is 32,000 lbs.
Looks like car #12757 labeling, in a different ( not the photo, above), reference photo is wrong.

I'd bet the the 32,000 lbs is the "empty-car weight"
( Water is typically rated at 8.34 lbs/gallon, US) , 60,000 lbs would be 7,200 gallons, if water;  your mileage may vary...) 

​W.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/04/20 10:40 by wcamp1472.

Combination of plain bearings and ACI bar codes make me think the photo dates from 1975-80.  Just my guess.

Gordon

I'm not necessarily doing this car, but a small tank like this. This is the only picture I have on my phone.

Posted from Android

Doug Wetherhold
Macungie, PA

Have you tried the Rio Grande Modeling & Historical Society at http://www.rgmhs.org  ?
They have a lot of info on D&RG and D&RGW equipment.

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Have you tried the Rio Grande Modeling &
> Historical Society at http://www.rgmhs.org  ?
> They have a lot of info on D&RG and D&RGW
> equipment.

They're on the list.

Posted from Android

Doug Wetherhold
Macungie, PA

The black square with yellow circle about 1978. Means the wheels were checked for defects.

      I believe the yellow dot denoted what material the wheels were made of. Do I remember correctly some wheels were not good for interchange?

      'Gallonage' , no there is a made up word for sure instead of simply asking "how many gallons will this tank hold".

       Irregardless of what is in the tank, water or oil or buttermilk, it will still only hold a certain volume. Just weighs according to contents.

       

usmc1401 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The black square with yellow circle about 1978.
> Means the wheels were checked for defects.

Yes, 1978.

Here is a old TO thread with info:

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?3,4728730

dcfbalcoS1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>       I believe the yellow dot denoted what
> material the wheels were made of. Do I remember
> correctly some wheels were not good for
> interchange?
>
>       'Gallonage' , no there is a made up word
> for sure instead of simply asking "how many
> gallons will this tank hold".
>
>        Irregardless of what is in the tank,
> water or oil or buttermilk, it will still only
> hold a certain volume. Just weighs according to
> contents.
>
>

Yellow dot had good wheels. White dot had the bad wheels.       

Here is the answer to your original question from Narrow Gauge expert  Brian Norden, here in California.
"The UTLX tank cars were converted from frameless standard gauge cars built circa 1910.   No capacity change was made.

I wish I could help you more on this but my key reference source for this kind of information,  A Century Plus Ten of D&RGW Narrow Gauge Freight Cars by Bob Sloan is currently boxed up and unavailable for an unknown period of time.
However, the White Pass & Yukon Route acquired a number of UTLX cars after the tank cars were not needed for the D&RGW.   The WP&YR equipment lists that I have list the tank cars as 6500 gallons."

James R.(Jim) Baker
Whittier, CA