Tangent HO GA 8,000 Gal. Radial Course Tank Car North American Lease “VENX, 1964+”

Description

Railroad Short Name: VENX

By the end of World War I, U.S. production of oil and oil-related products was sharply increasing thanks to the combination of war-related demands as well as demands from home. In order to move oil and “new” consumer products, tank car producers introduced new car designs. In 1917 General American Tank Car introduced a new general service 8,000 gallon non-insulated tank car (a prototype for which we released a model in November 2016 with a few still in stock), and quickly followed that production with an insulated 8,000 gallon tank car, which utilized a “jacket” that surrounded the tank and dome. Built in East Chicago, IN, these insulated cars were easily identifiable by their circumferential rivets that surrounded the tank body, with notably different heights between the courses, and with their “recessed ends”. These “radial course” tank cars utilized steel bolster plates that rise up vertically to hold the tank in place, complete with a “web” section behind to minimize steel consumption. At a time of fairly monochromatic box cars plying the rails, these insulated tank cars carried consumable products, and they were typically stenciled for lessees advertising consumer products such as gasoline, wine, and corn products.

VENX “1964 North American Lease” is another “black lease” type car but this time for the 1960s modelers.  This car has attractive aluminum stenciling and includes the distinctive and memorable North American logo on it.

Features:

• Circumferential riveted tank body and riveted underframe (count ‘em, there are many!)
• Radial course tank body – note the “stairstep” appearance!
• All-new underframe for the GATC 1917-design
• “See-through” cast knee above the bolsters
• Accurate dome appliances
• Dimensionally-correct hazardous placards with accurate hole detail
• Separately applied tank handrail
• Separately applied tank strap detail
• KC- or AB- brake variations depending on the prototype car
• Inclusion of Cardwell draft sill springs depending on the prototype car, otherwise “oval” frame openings where the springs were removed
• Different hand brake appliance options depending on the prototype car
• Highly correct “true to life” colors
• “Hyper-Accurate” lettering including exact fonts and lettering placement, including lettering applied to the underframe and air reservoir
• Durable wire grab irons and coupler lift bars
• Separate air hoses
• “Near-scale” draft gear box with side detail
• Kadee® “scale-head” couplers
• CNC-machined 33” wheels in high-quality Tangent Scale Models ASF cast steel truck with spring plank and with separate brake beams
• Replacement semi-scale wheels available separately from Tangent
• Multiple road numbers for each scheme – these cars often traveled in “groups” of more than one