I'm looking to model a BNSF crude oil train and was wondering who's tank cars would be correct for this? Athearn Atlas? And help would be great.
Either or I see the "rolling pipelines" every now and then mostly at night, usually just one roadname on the cars, with the idler hoppers between lead units tank cars, and DPU unit.
Atlas' 23,500 or 25,500 gallon tank cars appear to be a reasonable representation of what you would need to model a mobile pipeline... while you would need to find decals to represent one of the many car owners reporting marks the overall model is quite similar to the prototype, which runs roughly 28,000 to 31,000 gallons... http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2441610 http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/files/2014/03/Oil-Trains_Rupp.jpg
Another one to consider is the Micro-Trains 56' general service tank car. The prototype carried roughly the same capacity as the Atlas car but would likely provide a little variety in comparison to the Atlas model. http://rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2241907
I was planning on using relettered Athearn ethanol tanks whenever I get to building my oil train. They run a handful of crude trains a day on the NS here and to me the Athearn cars would be the closest, with some of the Atlas/MT car thrown in for variation. On a side note, ethanol and oil tanks are all getting protective end shields and I was told that all oil/ethanol tanks must be equipped with these for upgraded crash worthiness. http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3845254
Are the hopper or box cars used as idlers between the locomotives and the tank cars loaded with anything? I don’t imagine them being completely empty as having a couple of lightweight cars ahead of all those heavy loaded tank cars can’t be a good thing. It’s getting difficult to model a modern tank train as tank cars are evolving faster than our model manufactures can keep up. And of course nobody make those special couplers long required on all tank cars handling hazardous materials.
I'm sure they are, if BNSF learned anything from BN it's that light and heavy don't mix well. Those idler's must be getting to the end of their ropes trapped between locomotives and tank cars.
Usually the manifest says they are loaded with pebbles. I don't know exactly what kind of pebbles but the buffer cars are loaded. An empty car on the head end of an oil train is bad railroading.
Many current service crude oil tank cars are DOT-111 spec cars. Due to their demonstrated fragility in mishaps, they are in a constant cycle of upgrading/strengthening. Head shields as noted above help crash survivability. Modified fittings and protective structures help protect said fittings, but the tank shells and heads are simply not up tot he task of protecting the public in an accident at relatively slow speeds (under 30MPH). Their flawed design has been blamed in many accidents as a contributing factor in the disaster. Do an NTSB accident report search for Cherry Valley & Tiskilwa, IL and Columbus, OH within the last 10 years and look at NTSB's conclusions for contributing factors (not counting probable causes not related to tank car design). I did a research paper for a college class on this very subject. PM me offline if you'd like to know more (and if you're bored enough to read the paper)...:teeth:
