GATX 3912

A prototype photo can be found on page 16 of the May 1998 Model Railroading. This car was somewhat of an experiment in terms of its construction. I started with a Model Power 50' heated tank car. This model is on page 161 of the 1999 Walther's referance book. I removed everything off the surface of the tank body. This will leave huge holes in certain parts of the tank. Next I glued A-Line ends to the ends of the Model Power tank (the A-Line ends are slightly larger in diameter). Next, I cut 0.10" sheet styrene the length of the tank between the A-Line ends. The width of the sheet is equal to the circumference of the tank body. Weld lines were scribed into the sheet. Now, I wraped the styrene overlay around the tank body with the seam at the bottom (CA was used for this step). Walthers tankcar end sills/bolsters were fitted onto the body and the car was detailed to match the prototype.

Here is the finished car. Paint was Accu-paint stencil black, and decals were pieced together from Microscale set 87-736 and 87-235.

Here is GATX 3912 earning its keep on my model railroad.

GATX 97400

A prototype photo can be seen on page 19 of the June 1998 Model Railroading. Construction was started using the Walther's LPG tank car kit. Plano's #303 Trinity outside walkway kit will be used. Plano's #304 GATX inside walkway kit would require more work to match the prototype. Saddle modification has begun by filing and sanding down the width of the Walther's UTC saddles. Note the prototype's interesting stirups. Decals from Microscale's MC-4076 set and various ISP sets were used. Model was painted with Testors Acryl semi-gloss black (white added). The following are three photos of the car on my layout. GATX 97400 and only one other from its series was still active by the Oct 1996 ORER.

Last modified on Monday, November 22, 1999