A rule of thumb is most true domes* had a capacity of roughly 2% of the tank body (and this volume is measured above top dead center of the tank body). Now you mention earlier tanks seeming to have ta

Ken Adams wrote: > "72 grabiron holes taking at least 15 #78 drill bits." You are either chucking the bits wrong or drinking too much scotch.* The proper way to chuck a small diameter bit is with twic

If the buyer didn't specify otherwise, or provide their own trucks, Pullman supplied ASF 70-ton plain bearing A-3 Ride Controls. Scott Chatfield

ROX 670 is a post-1917 tankcar judging by the double rivet rows on the tank body itself. Do we know who built it and when? Perhaps a newer tank on a pre-1917 frame? Scott Chatfield

Also, kaolin is mined in southwestern Minnesota and used to make cement by the mills in Mason City, Iowa. I was told it is called "blue kaolin" and isn't suitable for use in paper. I saw it loaded in

That photo of a tank car being loaded with "slurry" is interesting because slurry, being 30% water is most cases, has to be protected from freezing, and that is not an insulated tankcar. A circa 1956

Thanks to the several gentlemen who all pointed me to Prime Mover Decals. Now the question is which paint job do I choose. It appears all of the Lackawanna's 1790cf cement hoppers were delivered in bl

So I'm building an F&C kit for a DL&W 1790cf 2-bay covered hopper. (I like building covered hoppers. Giving it to a friend who models the Lackawanna.) Only real problem I'm facing is the decals are ug

The SFRD car in Tim O's photo appears to have external ribs. Optical illusion? Scott Chatfield

> Why were they called "banana taper"? Because the shape of the major "ribs" resembles a straightened-out banana. Compare it to the earlier version of the Improved Dreadnaught End, known as "rolling p

Wait a minute! You mean they've fit _more_ crap, er, stuff in that building? I stopped by in early August and it already bordered on violating the basic laws of thermodynamics.... If you want to look

TUC might have worked, or they spelled it out. Cotton Belt had bought the Sunset Route by the time I went to work for the Southern, and I can't recall seeing any piggyback waybills with that routing g

To reduce bit breakage, first, make sure the bit sticks out of the chuck twice the length of the flutes, second, lay off the scotch..... Scott Chatfield

While some multi _manway_ single compartment tank cars have been built since 1960, for phosphorus for instance, I can't recall ever seeing a multi _dome_ single compartment tank car. Can't say that su

I'm guessing the Eastman Chemical tank cars were assigned to Tennessee Eastman in Kingsport. Was there another Eastman Chemical location back in the day? Scott Chatfield

And covered hoppers and tank cars were specifically exempted from the billboard ban. Scott Chatfield

But were they using "friction bearing" to describe a type of journal bearing or were they using it correctly to describe one type of side plate bearing? "Friction bearing" is an oxymoron since a beari

What he was refering to is Amoco was Standard of Indiana, Esso was Standard of New Jersey, etc. Scott Chatfield

Tim O wrote: > Exactly one railroad bought 10-0 IH PS-1 box cars with 7 foot doors - the New Haven. And they bought 1500 of them! Did somebody say 7 foot door? Isn't that what the old Kurtz Kraft, lat

I think it's on Crawford Hill in Nebraska. Scott Chatfield