09-14-2014, 09:33 PM
Hi Guys, just a couple of observations;
Charlie noted the build date of the tank car in Ralph's link as 3/49 and he highlighted the presence of Babbit bearings versus roller bearings, but he overlooked a more obvious detail, rivets.
That tank car was built using rivetted construction techniques as compared to the tank cars in Charlies pictures are of welded construction. Both tank cars look similar but the rivets show you which is the older tank car.
Electric arc welding really took off as a metal working technique during WW11 for such things as ships and tanks as it is a faster, lighter and stronger method of joining steel than rivetting.
However as with any new industrial process it takes time for it to become widely accepted and understood so for a tank car to be built in 3/49 using rivets is plausable, remember a lot of the railcar fleet was worn out from the service demands of WW11 and needed replacement, but I bet the manufacturers were seriously looking at moving to welded construction if they hadnt already started using welding.
The U.S. tankcar fleet entered WW11 with a lot of 1920's cars and only a few cars built during the 30's thanks to the Great Depression, and that fleet had been worn down from the demands of becoming a rolling oil pipeline to replace tankers sunk by U-Boats off the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts in 1942/3 as well as those sunk in the Atlantic. I havent even factored in the oil requirements for the Pacific war. Few tankcars could be built during the war due to steel shortages and so a 3/49 tankcar would have been one built to replace a clapped out '20's or 30's tankcar and so keep oil supplies moving until such time as welded tankcars could be introduced to service.
If the build date had said 3/59 I would have been suspicious as by then welding should have been becoming the construction method of choice. There would possibly still be some railcars built using rivetted methods, but very few if any.
If the build date had said 3/69, then I think someone is pulling our leg. Remember '69 is back when man was getting ready to go to the moon.
Now I believe that for a railcar to be in interchange service in the U.S., the maximum service life is 40 years, although a 10 year extension can be granted if the car is completely rebuilt. Can anyone confirm this?
The main thing is Ralph, you like the tankcars and they look right on your layout plus you got a bargain.
Mark
Strange how this topic combined several of my interests; Railroads, Model Railroads, World War Two, and Welding.
Charlie noted the build date of the tank car in Ralph's link as 3/49 and he highlighted the presence of Babbit bearings versus roller bearings, but he overlooked a more obvious detail, rivets.
That tank car was built using rivetted construction techniques as compared to the tank cars in Charlies pictures are of welded construction. Both tank cars look similar but the rivets show you which is the older tank car.
Electric arc welding really took off as a metal working technique during WW11 for such things as ships and tanks as it is a faster, lighter and stronger method of joining steel than rivetting.
However as with any new industrial process it takes time for it to become widely accepted and understood so for a tank car to be built in 3/49 using rivets is plausable, remember a lot of the railcar fleet was worn out from the service demands of WW11 and needed replacement, but I bet the manufacturers were seriously looking at moving to welded construction if they hadnt already started using welding.
The U.S. tankcar fleet entered WW11 with a lot of 1920's cars and only a few cars built during the 30's thanks to the Great Depression, and that fleet had been worn down from the demands of becoming a rolling oil pipeline to replace tankers sunk by U-Boats off the U.S. East and Gulf Coasts in 1942/3 as well as those sunk in the Atlantic. I havent even factored in the oil requirements for the Pacific war. Few tankcars could be built during the war due to steel shortages and so a 3/49 tankcar would have been one built to replace a clapped out '20's or 30's tankcar and so keep oil supplies moving until such time as welded tankcars could be introduced to service.
If the build date had said 3/59 I would have been suspicious as by then welding should have been becoming the construction method of choice. There would possibly still be some railcars built using rivetted methods, but very few if any.
If the build date had said 3/69, then I think someone is pulling our leg. Remember '69 is back when man was getting ready to go to the moon.
Now I believe that for a railcar to be in interchange service in the U.S., the maximum service life is 40 years, although a 10 year extension can be granted if the car is completely rebuilt. Can anyone confirm this?
The main thing is Ralph, you like the tankcars and they look right on your layout plus you got a bargain.
Mark
Strange how this topic combined several of my interests; Railroads, Model Railroads, World War Two, and Welding.
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