I have my copy of Marre and Harper's "Frisco Diesel Power" open to page 39 looking at the photo. What the Sam Hill kind of tank car is that coupled to Baldwin switcher 219? It has a VERY large dome...?? Tom
It is a strange looking t/c! This must be a car designed to carry some fluid that expands and contracts a great deal with temperature change. The main purpose of the dome on a t/c is to provide a sure vapor space to allow for expansion and contraction of the fluid. It also is a handy place to locate the car lid, loading/unloading valves, stand pipes and pressure relief valves. Some t/c's also have bottom valves, some don't. Ken |-|
I always have liked tank cars more than any other freight car type. I thought that was because I am a chemical engineer and worked for 40 years in the chemical industry. We used a lot of tank cars. Maybe not! It might be a result of early exposure to t/c's. Here I am in May, 1949. Who was PSPX? Ken
Good guess Sherrel! I looked it up in my old railroad equipment guide (1979); it is indeed a Phillips Petroleum Company tank car. They also had PSPX covered hoppers. Interesting that PSPX 11061 was still in service in 1979! It's a Type 103 11,000 gallon insulated car, on 70-ton trucks, part of a 144 car fleet - PSPX 11001-11150. Care to guess again? I wonder what service it was in? Ken
Certainly some refined petroleum product. Phillips didn't have a refinery around here, so it is not crude oil. They did have as I recall a terminal south of the city on the Mississippi south of Jefferson Barracks. Could be they shipped in refined gasolines and oils to it by rail. Regarding the location, that pic is in a group of pictures my dad took during a visit to the NMOT. So, the car was sitting at Barretts Station on the MoP. The car was not part of the NMOT collection. Ken
Just Jabbering .... The car looked pretty clean to me for 1949 - and it's a larger capacity than most I grew up with on the Reader. How active was Scott AAF/AFB in 1949? Could have been Aviation Gas.
Sure, certainly could have been in avgas service. Yes, Scott AFB was quite active in 1949. I remember a couple of Cub Scout visits to the base back then. One in particular I remember - we drove over there with a neighbor, in his Frasier car! (made by Kaiser-Frasier). I guess it could also have been for Lambert. Lots of your TWA Connies flying in and out of STL back then, among other piston aircraft. But, since it was sitting at Barretts on the MoP, I'd wager it was a heating oil shipment for some dealer in Webster or Kirkwood. Note it is empty, since there is no card in the holder. If it was a gasoline or avgas empty, I would think it would have an explosive empty card in the holder because of the volitility. Perhaps not for fuel oil, lube oil or diesel oil. Ken
Ken, Your thoughts sound pretty good to me. I would think that it had to be for local use around there. If it was to be shipped via "That Old Man River" ... I would think Memphis would have been closer if it came out of OK. Nope: STL looks the most direct route from TUL - OKC.
