Author Description

Tank cars began to be built in significant numbers after the Civil War. There are many thousands of tank car orders and photographs in the archives of American Car & Foundry. Freight car historian Ed Kaminski has assembled a superb sampling of this rich material, in a volume focusing exclusively on tank cars. This book shows many examples of the production of a major builder of these cars, American Car & Foundry, from 1865 until 1955. (In later years, tank car technology underwent major changes.) Covered are the tank cars built for ACF's own leasing company, Shippers Car Line; for private owners and railroads; and for other leasing companies, such as Union Tank Line, Conley Tank Car Company, and others. A chapter on tank car manufacturing and car details, and a collection of drawings of cars and components enrich the volume. The gradual introduction of standards of construction greatly influenced the appearance of tank cars, though in all eras cars were built to customer specifications for specific uses and cargoes. AC&F had its own standards for underframes, named by the year of their design, such as Type 4 (1904), Type 21 (1921), etc. Cars of these types and many custom designs are all shown in this book. Tank cars carried many cargoes, from water and petroleum to wine, chemicals and solvents, edible oils, asphalt, printing ink, liquid latex, acids, and liquified gases such as chlorine, ammonia, and propane. Special linings for certain cargoes, differing arrangements of domes and outlets, pressurized tanks and insulated jackets, all contributed to the distinctiveness of individual tank cars. Examples of these and many more cargo-carrying types of cars are shown here. With 514 photographs and 31 drawings of complete cars and of car parts, as well as many AC&F ads and graphics, this book provides extensive coverage and information about the tank car from American Car & Foundry.