Model Train Journal

Today I took delivery of a Scale-Models Inc. O Scale Tank Car Kit part number K-1452. The box looks like it has never been opened, still has the fake "horsehair" packing in the right places and even contains a, I'm assuming here, dried up bottle of paint and some really vintage Texaco tank car decals. The trucks are definitely vintage, in fact, the only thing that appears missing is, of course, the instructions. My question for you folks is, is this true 1/4 inch or is it 17/64"? Thanks in advance for any help, I'd like to get some notes in the box before adding it to the build cue so it can age gracefully for a few more years before being molested by yours truly.

How wide is the end platform?

When I get a chance I'll unbox the kit and take some measurements and photos, hope I can get everything back in the box correctly.

I have a Scale-Models Inc tank car kit. The end platform is 2 and 3/8 inches wide. I also have the instructions including a drawing that says: SCALE 1/4" = 1"-0"-, COPYRIGHT - 1936, AMERICAN MODEL ENGR'S, INC. etc

For those not familiar with the company, this is from a time when SCALE-CRAFT was their "trade mark" but not their company name.
Oddly enough the drawing is of a Shell tank car and there are SCALE-CRAFT decals for a Shell tank car in the box.

Tom - I would be happy to send you a copy of the drawing and the other instructions. I would need your address.

Steve

Thanks Steve, I found the instructions below the lower fake horsehair in the bottom of the box. I truly believe I'm the first person since 1941 to have his fingers in that far. Mine has Texaco decals. Martin, mine also measures 2.325 inches which makes it a 1/48 car . Suffice it to say, I'm pretty happy with the acquisition, exhorbitant postage notwithstanding. The body casting is really light, maybe aluminum (during the buildup to the war??!!). Now I just have to decide what to use and what to upgrade. I'm thinking this is maybe a Pressed Steel car.

Yep. Standard Scale Craft. I like them - I think I have at least a dozen.

So Bob, what the heck are the wheel sets made of?

Carbon steel. Some are uninsulated; others are insulated mid-axle. Very early production may have been brass.

Are they black and shiny because the factory painted them or treated them with an etchant?

No - somebody swapped yours out. They are bare steel, with at this point a light coat of rust.

Ya' know, when I first took them out of the box, I thought "These 1940 two rail wheel sets look like three rail to me.", when I get back into the shop again I might have to double check them. They feel and weight like some sort of plastic or phenolic, not metal. Do you know if the parts are cast in pot metal or aluminum? They seem very light, especially the tank casting.

Most of the tanks - all that I have seen - are heavy. Probably a lead alloy. Perhaps they did a few in aluminum. Martin probably can tell you how to test that non- destructively.

Only the truck bolsters should be plastic - the rest is either die cast or poured lead alloy. I think.

Those wheels look to me like they could be plastic Tennite wheels. I have not often seen them in good condition. They are often falling apart. I even recall seeing a letter to the editor in a post WW2 MR magazine where they were discussing Tennite wheels made during the war that used inferior ingredients and were already disintegrating in the late 40s'. And as far as the flanges looking three rail; the NMRA O scale wheel standard has changed twice since the 40's. Flange height was .062 back then.

Yeah Phil, I took a good close look at them before packing the box and putting it in the que. They are two rail with a deeper flange than I am used to seeing, they appear to have the insulator in the middle of the axles, and I'm pretty damn sure that anything made from steel or brass would definitely weigh more. I'm convinced that this kit is really untouched NOS. I'm also pretty impressed with the quality of the castings and the parts package. These guys from Libertyville must have really meant Scale when they put it in the name. The only thing I see that needs to be upgraded when I build is the trucks and of course therefore the bolsters. Pretty much the rest of the kit is "up to snuff" as near as I can tell without getting the mic's and calipers out. The decals have glued themselves together and failed but that's a minor issue, I'll find or create some good 8000 gallon tankcar artwork when the time comes.