Herkat - 1401 - Tank Car, No Dome, 2-Axle - Aral - 503 118

Specific Item Information: Car is in a Herkat box marked Made In W. Germany; instructions in the box show Herkat Nurnberg. Car has a removable plug on top for adding track cleaning fluid which migrates to saturate the felt pad beneath the car.

Model Information: Arnold introduced these cars in the 1960s. They appear in the 1966 catalog and are described as follows: "These tank cars are models of privately owned cars belonging to various oil companies. The model of four wheel tank cars have plastic super structures and burnished metal chassis. There are sprung automatic couplers at both ends. The needle point steel axles run in journal boxes with imitation steel springs."

Herkat has used this body style to manufacture track cleaning cars which have been imported by both Kato and Con-Cor.

Personally, I find the glued-on placards to be really cheesy, and make an otherwise nice model to look quite amateurish. Arnold could have done better.

Prototype History: Tank cars are a railroad staple. They have been around since the first half of the 20th century. These railcars carry a wide array of commodities, including liquid fertilizers, chemicals, fuel oils and asphalt, and food-grade oils. Tank cars can be pressurized or non-pressurized, insulated or non-insulated. Single dome cars carry only a single commodity at once. Food-service tank cars may be lined with stainless steel, glass, or plastic. Tank cars carrying dangerous goods are generally made of different types of steel, depending on the intended cargo and operating pressure. They may also be lined with rubber or coated with specialized coatings for tank protection or product purity purpose. The tank heads are also stronger to prevent ruptures during accidents.

Road Name History: Aral is a brand of automobile fuels and petrol stations, present in Germany and Luxembourg, but formerly used in most countries of Western and Central Europe. The company behind the brand name, Aral AG (previously Veba Öl AG), is owned by BP, but was established in 1898 as Westdeutsche Benzol-Verkaufs-Vereinigung GmbH. The Aral brand was introduced in 1924 and is a portmanteau of the German words "Aromaten" and "Aliphaten", alluding to the aromatic and aliphatic components found in gasoline, respectively.

On 15 July 2001 it was agreed that 51% of the stakes in Veba Öl AG would be acquired by Deutsche BP AG. Beginning 1 February 2002 the acquisition was completed. The Aral brand name was retained, and 650 BP stations in Germany were rebranded to Aral.[1] 6 BP branded filling stations remained operational in Germany to protect the company's rights to the name, while elsewhere, as Poland and Austria, the Aral stations were switched to BP. In some countries the Aral national chains were sold. Aral's slogan is "Alles super".

From Wikipedia

Manufacturer Information: Herkat Modellbahn is a German manufacturer of specialty modeling parts. They produce reed switches, cabling, electronic parts as well as specialty rolling stock for track cleaning. Their track-cleaning cars in N scale have been imported by Con-Cor with branding from both companies.