Aristo-Craft tank car (BN 21778)

Another recent purchase was a tank car, in this case one that would have been used for hauling diesel fuel. And of course it had to be in Burlington Northern colors.

Out on the track for a photo op.

The rail branch lines on the Palouse were focused primarily on getting products out to market – grain, pulses, lumber and wood products. But there was also some inbound traffic to support agriculture, mostly chemical fertilizers and diesel fuel. Those products were hauled in tank cars like this one. This is a mid-century style car, built by riveting steel plates together, unlike the much larger, welded cars you see on rails today.

Here's a slightly better picture where you can more clearly see the rivets

I wasn’t able to find a high-quality photo of an BN tank car that was as old as this model, but here’s a link to a photo of a very similar tank car from the Spokane, Portland & Seattle. Notice the rivets along the length of the car and also around connecting the end caps.

For comparison here’s a link to a slightly more modern Burlington Northern tank car built in the mid-1980s. This one is also designed for hauling diesel fuel, and in this case it was being used as a fuel tender (an external fuel tank) for the two diesel locomotives on either side of it. BN experimented with using fuel tenders to lengthen the time the locomotives could operate without visiting a refueling station. If you’re interested in learning more, here’s a link to a lengthy article about how BN made use of fuel tenders that includes lots of detailed pictures!

I plan on running this tank car empty, as there is always a danger in hauling explosive fuels! Check out this article from HistoryLink.org about a single Burlington Northern tank car that exploded in Wenatchee in 1974 killing two people, injuring 66 more and causing over $5 million in damages.