Tank Car 28 - 37, 40 - 42

Tank Car 28-37 and 40-43

The tank cars #28-37 and #40-43 were all ex. UTLX 6500 gallon nominal capacity standard gauge tank car shells built circa 1910, mounted on the ex. USATC 333442-460 Pullman steel flat cars of 1942 (gons #101-116+/- by 1949).

Tank #28 was initially (24 June 1949) mounted on ex. Sumpter Valley wooden flat car #319, and switched to steel frame gon #108 in June 1952. He was remounted on Gondola/Flat Car 116 about 1954.

28

Tank Car 28 (1989)

Tank 28 is waiting for better days at Whitehorse June 1989. Nearly one years is gone and no service on the White Pass & Yukon Route. Finally he will end up at the Yukon Transportation Museum in Whitehorse. Image by Barbara Halliwell.

29

Tank Car 29 (2002)

Tank car 29 here at Skagway Shops by Boerries Burkhardt.

30

Tank Car 30

Carcross May, 2009 by Boerries Burkhardt

33

Tank Car 33

Carcross May, 2009 by Boerries Burkhardt

34

Tank Car 34

Tank car #34 with full Deck, K brake.Carcross May, 2009 by Boerries Burkhardt

40

Tank Car 40

Carcross May, 2009 by Boerries Burkhardt

41

Tank Car 41

Tank car #41 with full Deck, K brake, no stake pockets. Carcross May, 2009 by Boerries Burkhardt

History

Tank #29 & #30 started on USATC steel box frames #23150 & #23130 in 1949 (no side sills), with #29 switched to gon #115 in 1956, and #30 to gon #108 on 9 July 1960. #30 was remounted on Gondola / Flat Car 112 between 1961 & 1965.

Tank #31 may have have been placed on gon #112 in 1949. The other shells were purchased in 1950 (#32-35), 1951 (#36,37) and August 1954 (#40-43). #31 was remounted on Gondola/Flat Car 108 about 1960. These were probably mounted on the Pullman flat/gon frames when they arrived.

This information provided by Carl Mulvihill. Some tanks have since been moved to 11xx series container flat frames. Authorizations for expenditure (AFE) for some of these tank shell purchases are held in the Yukon Archives.
Detailed measurments of Tank 35, taken August 1982, at Whitehorse.
The flat cars were built by Pullman in 1942, and imported by the USATC. Comments in {} were added during transcription. These notes are intended to be used with a good set of detail photos.

Frame: 30'2" x 7'8" x 9" over sills
Side & End Sills: 2 1/2" x 9" channels
Center Sills: 3 1/2" x 10" channel, flanges out, ~20" over flanges.
Bolster: 20'0" CtoC, pressed steel webs with ~2 1/2" flanges out, top & bottom plates 12 1/2" wide.
Cross beams: two bolster webs placed 60" apart, 30" from car CL, with flanges out - eight 2"x4" pressed channels (2 between cross beams, 2 between each cross beam - bolster pair, 1 outboard of each bolster, all with flanges facing in.
Deck: was riveted steel plate 38" above rail - now removed between end tank bolsters
Corner Steps: of 5/8" x 2" stock, 8" x 29" clear, 4" from end Side & End Grabs: 18" long
Draft Gear: 20" wide - extends 8" from end sill -carry iron (1" x 5")extends 16" below deck
Tank Bolsters: 12" x 12" x 8', 23'6" CtoC {for the end bolsters}
Head Block: 6" x 12" - face 12" clear of end sill
Walkways: 1 3/4" x 12", 8'1" out to out
Stake Pockets: 4"x 5" inside, 9 1/2" x 5 1/2" x 7 1/2" outside - 5 with centers @ (centerline , 8'10" from CL, 17'8" from CL) with a set of rivet
holes at 26'2" - {Note that some cars do not retain any stake pockets}
Tank Straps: 1/2" x 2" flats welded to 7/8" rod ends
Ladder: of 1/2"x2" strap rails x 18" wide overall, 5/8" rungs on 13" centers.
Brake: 10" cylinder - AB triple valve

#34 - full Deck, K brake.
#35 - open Deck, AB brake.
#41 - full Deck, K brake, no stake pockets.

#52 - open Deck, AB brake. {this is either an error in car #, since #52 was originally an ex UTLX/D&RGW "narrow frame tank car", or it represents the transfer of a narrow frame shell to a flat car. The latter is quite possible, since the narrow frame side sills were all badly cracked over the body bolsters, and White Pass pulled the ends out of several.}

During the 1997 Train Unlimited Tour, I examined all of the tank cars stored at Bennett, and verified that all of this car series, that were then present, carried Van Dyke (aka. Gramps) frameless tank car shells. That is, they still had remanents of the characteristic Van Dyke cast steel body bolster: either the casting with the flanges torched off, or the corresponding pattern of sealed holes where the rivets had been burned out.

The evidence of welding scars in some tank shells, circling the dome about 6"-8" outside of the dome seam, suggests that the domes were cut off and dropped into the shells when shipped north. This would have been an economy measure, to minimize shipping charges based on over all cubage. I have not verified just which tank shells show these scars. I suspect they are on the later shipments.

For HO scale modeling, use the PSC "Gramps" tank shell or equivalent on a scratchbuilt flat car. If you are not into super detailing, the car body should be even simpler than a wooden flat car.

Thanks to John Stutz for this great information and Robert G. Hilton for some updates.

Last Update

Last Update: 29.03.2016

Copyright © 1994-2016 Whitepassfan.net by Boerries Burkhardt