Jared Harper wrote:

I have been researching the cars used on the Santa Fe's Alma District
in Kansas in May 1943. Other than some Kenneth Goebel photos from
that period the next best thing I have is RECORD OF FREIGHT TRAINS
AND CARS THROUGH TERMINALS Form 815 Eskridge and Hessdale Nov. 1,
1957-Jan 12, 1972, basically from the last 14 years of the line's
operation.

Anyway, there were three oil jobbers on the line at Eskridge, KS,--
Phillips 66, Standard Oil, and Sinclair Refining. Apparently the
only one of these still receiving tank cars in 1958 was Sinclair. In
1958 the Sinclair jobber received 16 cars of gasoline and two cars of
fuel oil. Most of the shipments received were in SDRX cars of 6,000
gallon or 8,000 gallon capacity in the following series.

4600-4699 6,000 gal.
5600-5699 6.000 gal.
6600-6699 6,000 gal.
7600-7661 6,000 gal.
13800-13899 8,000 gal.
16800-16899 8,000 gal.
19800-19899 8,000 gal.
20800-20899 8,000 gal.

One PARX car, 1126, is also listed. In reading the Form 815 it is
interesting to note that the same cars kept coming back time after
time. I don't know what that says about car usage.

PARX was the reporting mark for of the Producers & Refiners Corporation of Independence MO which Sinclair bought in 1934. Any PARX tank cars, therefore, were essentially controlled by Sinclair.

NOW FOR MY QUESTIONS. All the cars from 1958 are listed in my
January 1943 ORER so I assume they could have appeared on Alma branch
trains during my May 1943 modeling era. Am I correct?

During WW II, Tank Cars were under the control of the Office of Defense Transportation as per their General Order #7 in May 1942. This order effectively prohibited movement of loaded tank cars without the permission of the ODT except for hauls to the East Coast. This order also prohibited the use of tank cars in hauls of less than 100 miles (later extended to 200 miles) which shifted local transport from rail to road. Also, all lease arrangements were voided for the duration.

Because of rationing, the consumption of petroleum products not essential for the war effort decreased substantially from pre-War levels.

The effect of this upon Alma Branch would have been few tank cars on line unless there was there was a defense establishment in the area. The ownership of those tank cars which did appear could have been any tank car capable of carrying petroleum because of the order voiding leasing agreements (& by the back door, shipper-owned tank cars).

After WW II, ODT #7 was voided, but tank trucks had made their inroads. Sinclair (& PARX) tank cars would have reappeared serving the Sinclair outlet although the SDRX (& PARX) fleet were sold to UTLX in the mid-1950's as UTLX managed Sinclair's rail transport needs. Phillips had their own tank cars while Standard (of Indiana?) would have most likely used UTLX tank cars if their Alma Branch outlets of either company were served by rail.

Tim Gilbert