Photo: New England Alcohol Company Tank Car NEACX 32
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Photo: New England Alcohol Company Tank Car NEACX 32 Photo from the Missouri Historical Society: https://mohistory.org/collections/item/P0403-S03043-01-8n?fullscreen=1 Car built in 1912. Photo supposedly taken in the 1930s. Bob Chaparro Hemet, CA
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Cool photo ! The frame has a 1912 stencil but the tank appears to have a 1928 stencil. I never knew a private reporting mark could be 5 letters. :-\
On 7/1/2022 1:16 PM, Bob Chaparro via groups.io wrote:
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Tim O'Connor Sterling, Massachusetts
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nyc3001 .
Maybe it would be possible to model this car by mating a F&C underframe to a P2K 8K Type 21 tank.
-Phil
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According to Ian Cranstone’s reporting marks list, New England Alcohol used NEAX reporting marks from 1935 to 1947.
In a 1938 ORER they had a whopping total of 7 cars and by 1945 it had climbed to 9!
Steve Hile
From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io [mailto:main@RealSTMFC.groups.io] On Behalf Of Tim O'Connor
Sent: Friday, July 1, 2022 12:37 PM To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] Photo: New England Alcohol Company Tank Car NEACX 32
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Tim,
I see 1-34 on the tank under EVERETT and I think I see 1-34 on the test date on the right side.
Regards, Bruce Smith Auburn, AL
From: <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> on behalf of Tim O'Connor <timboconnor@...>
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Charlie Vlk
All- Truncate the link to https://mohistory.org/collections/ and search all collections. Found a few CB&Q items searching on “Burlington” and there are many more under the more generic “Railroad”. Charlie Vlk
From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> On Behalf Of Steve and Barb Hile
Sent: Friday, July 1, 2022 12:52 PM To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] Photo: New England Alcohol Company Tank Car NEACX 32
According to Ian Cranstone’s reporting marks list, New England Alcohol used NEAX reporting marks from 1935 to 1947.
In a 1938 ORER they had a whopping total of 7 cars and by 1945 it had climbed to 9!
Steve Hile
From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io [mailto:main@RealSTMFC.groups.io] On Behalf Of Tim O'Connor
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Bruce Yes. 1-34 is the shop date but over on the right it looks like AC&F (or something xC&F) and the number 1928 is clearly visible. I think the tank may have been built in 1928. Tim
On 7/1/2022 1:57 PM, Bruce Smith wrote:
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Tim O'Connor Sterling, Massachusetts
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David Soderblom
I thought it unusual that the lettering is in stencil.
Sent from my tricorder
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Dave Parker
In the 7-34 ORER, NEA(C)X 32 is listed as one of 5 cars, all noted as "new additions". There is no listing for the company in my 12-30 ORER, suggesting a new company (or at least fleet).
IMO, the NEACX stencil is some sort of "typo" at the paint shop. The reporting mark is consistently NEAX from 1934 to 1940 (at least). I can't come up with another explanation. In the 7-34 ORER, car 32 is listed individually as an 8000 gal, 80,000 lb car. By 7/35, the exact gallonage is given as 8170 (more reminiscent of a tariff listing!), but the weight capacity is listed as 55,600 lbs -- a real oddity for a tank car. This is replicated in a 10-37 listing, but by 1-40 these figures are given as 8170 and 80,000. I hesitate to speculate on what might have caused these unusual listings. Assuming the frame was built in 1912, it is obviously a new tank -- the double rivets alone date it as 1917+, and the ICC 103 stencil alone suggests 1927+. But I think the stencils are sufficiently legible: the tank was built in 1928 by ACF, and the pressure tested at that time. In 1-34, the safety valves were test by ?? in Everett, the car was light-weighted, and I believe painted (thus the 1-34 stencil under EVERETT). Not sure about modeling the tank with a P2000 Type 21. The dome looks bigger on this car, but I don't have my 1936 tariff with me to look it up. BTW, a quick Google search suggests that one of this companies mainstay products was antifreeze, seemingly denatured ethanol. A very quick Wiki-like search suggests that ethylene glycol did not really come into play until 1937. I wonder how long NEAX stayed in business after that? Fun car, even if it's a one-off. -- Dave Parker Swall Meadows, CA
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Dave,
Since freight cars were lettered almost exclusively using stencils during this period, I'm puzzled by your puzzlement. Is it the fact that the stencil gaps were not painted over? There are plenty of examples of that in the freight car fleet, although it certainly
wasn't super common. A number of the better decals available have options where the stencil gaps are visible.
Regards,
Bruce Smith
Auburn, AL
From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> on behalf of David Soderblom <drs@...>
Sent: Friday, July 1, 2022 3:00 PM To: main@realstmfc.groups.io <main@realstmfc.groups.io> Subject: [EXT] Re: [RealSTMFC] Photo: New England Alcohol Company Tank Car NEACX 32 CAUTION: Email Originated Outside of Auburn.
I thought it unusual that the lettering is in stencil. Sent from my tricorder
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Tony Thompson
I have seen photos of workmen hand-painting to cover the stencil gaps.
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Dennis Storzek <dennis@...>
On Fri, Jul 1, 2022 at 03:40 PM, Tony Thompson wrote:
I have seen photos of workmen hand-painting to cover the stencil gaps.And the sheet metal stencils used in production painting of freightcars often had "stencil bars" made of wire, so the paint flowed around them naturally. Dennis Storzek
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Ed Hawkins
Dave and others interested, In going thru the ACF photos and records, I cannot find a lot number for NEACX 32. Because of this I surmise the car was purchased 2nd-hand. Interestingly, NEAX 32 appears in ACF records as lot no. 1778 with the bill of materials denoting the car was the former MCHX 32. A new ACF builder photo taken 2/16/38 shows the original tank built 6-8-28, now stenciled as ICC-103 instead of ARA III. The underframe that in all likelihood was an ACF Type 21 was upgraded to include an Ajax hand brake, AB brakes, and what I believe are AAR double-truss trucks. Placard locations on the sides were moved. Incidentally, I’m fairly sure that MCHX 32 was not bought as a new ACF Type 27 tank car as I can find no such original order for the Merrimac Chemical Co. The only 8,000-gallon ACF tank cars I’ve found with the same 6-28 build date were for The Rossville Company (RVX 111-115) of Lawrenceville, Indiana. However, these 4 cars built in lot 680 came on Type 28 underframes. These cars also did not come with arch bar trucks. So I don’t believe RVX 111-115 could be the origin of MCHX 32, NEACX 32 & the later NEAX 32. Attached is a scan of NEAX 32 from ACF lot 1778 with the ACF builder photo taken after it received the upgrades. The gallon capacity stencils denote 8173. Paint specs for NEAX 32: Red - center band, dome, tank heads; aluminum - balance of upper portion of tank; black - lower portion of tank, underframe, trucks, AB brake parts, ladders, grabs, handrail, side platforms, grabs, and hand brake. Black stencils on aluminum, white stencils on black and red. The National Museum of Transportation has a general arrangement drawing of NEAX 32, drawing no. 3149226. The New England Alcohol Co. continued to be listed from the early 1930s thru at least 7/49. The 4/51 ORER no longer listed the company. Regards, Ed Hawkins 
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Jack Mullen
On Fri, Jul 1, 2022 at 02:19 PM, Dave Parker wrote:
IMO, the NEACX stencil is some sort of "typo" at the paint shop. The reporting mark is consistently NEAX from 1934 to 1940 (at least). I can't come up with another explanation.It does appear that somebody was a bit unclear on the concept. But the thirties seem to be a period of transition to more strict compliance with use of assigned marks. In the 7-34 ORER, car 32 is listed individually as an 8000 gal, 80,000 lb car. By 7/35, the exact gallonage is given as 8170 (more reminiscent of a tariff listing!), but the weight capacity is listed as 55,600 lbs -- a real oddity for a tank car. This is replicated in a 10-37 listing, but by 1-40 these figures are given as 8170 and 80,000. I hesitate to speculate on what might have caused these unusual listing.Common industrial alcohols have specific gravities around 0.79-0.80. 55,600 lbs is a plausible weight of 8179 gallons of an alcohol close to 90% concentration. ...I agree that this is a 1928 built tank, likely AC&F. To my eye, the tank proportions look like an 8k type 27 would suit very well. I'm not sure about the frame i.d. or what would be a good option in HO. The prototype appears to have cast tank cradles, fwiw. Jack Mullen
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55,600 pounds is close to the weight of 8,170 gallons of alcohol. (54,167 for isopropyl, 53,758 for ethanol). That much water weighs 68,056 pounds. That could perhaps explain the odd weight number in the OER. Dave
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Dave Parker
Ed:
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Indeed in 1946 and 1947 brand new MCHX tank cars were built for the Merrimac Division.
On 7/3/2022 1:25 PM, Dave Parker via groups.io wrote:
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Tim O'Connor Sterling, Massachusetts
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It’s an ACF Built car. I haven’t taken the time to examine the car verses known cars but if you have Ed Kaminski book on ACF tank cars, You should be able to determine when it was built. My guess based on the trucks under the car is it was built earlier than 1928 but after 1912 I would say 1923.
From: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io <main@RealSTMFC.groups.io> On Behalf Of Tim O'Connor
Sent: Friday, July 1, 2022 3:11 PM To: main@RealSTMFC.groups.io Subject: Re: [RealSTMFC] Photo: New England Alcohol Company Tank Car NEACX 32
Bruce
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