|-|I have had a few of these AHM cars, since high School too. Admittedly, I am quick to Frisco-ize about anything, I go a little slower to erase anything Frisco, even though it never existed. Since the energy boom around here, you can see 3-4 of these in a train these days. They are hauling "fracing sand". I am told the sand is used in Natural Gas well production. The model has had part of the handrails bent from Brass wire, as well as Brass wire for air line's. Coupler cut bars, stirrup steps and more have been replaced. Used Styrene Pipe to fill in the bolsters to attach the trucks w/ screws, and body mounted the couplers. Tried not to stray too far away from the original model. Check out the LT WT, 70,000 LBS. A lot of Steel, these old critters could almost be considered a load, even when MT. And yep, that SYSX car was not numbered on one side. Tom Holley|-|
Nice job Tom, as usual! I've often looked at that car on eBay and wondered if it could be made into anything worthwhile. You have broken the code! Fracing sand is used in the oil and natural gas production technique known as "fracing", or shale fracturing. They drill the field horizontally, then high pressure pulse the field with a water/sand/other goodies system to fracture the shale and allow the crude oil and/or natural gas trapped in the shale to be produced. Karl, and possibly others, can describe the technique better than I can. This technique has resulted in US oil and gas production being increased significantly in recent years. Ken ps: This is a good example of a type of "pressure differential" covered hopper, known as a "PD car" for short. The lading is pressurized, aerated, and "pumped" out. Obviously, only fine particle sized materials will work in this type of car.
Tom is an excellent modeler, bar none. Jim, you have the eye, talent, and the skills; the key is not speed - one can tell that Tom takes time to painstakingly get the details right.
"Slow and steady wins the race" "Haste makes waste" I gotta lay off the coffee and get down to branchline speeds.
Thanks for the comments guys, Howard is right those things are junk, but in their defense it was tooling from years ago. After building all this stuff I noticed that you could probably use those handrails from a Athearn 62' tank car to do same and not as much work. Thanks Ken, that make sense as to what I have heard. But I understand there are many different kinds of sand they use as well. And Jim you are at least as talented or more so, than myself, or anyone, I have seen your work. Thanks Keith, you give me too much credit. Regards Tom Holley|-|
