InterMountain - BLW-1105a-B3 - Tank Car, Single Dome, ACF 8,000 Gallon - Union Tank Car - 2163

Model Information: This popular InterMountain model comes in both kit and RTR (Read-to-Run) versions. Different couplers have been used over the years. Recent (2010+) versions have generic magnetic operating couplers.

Prototype History: The ACF® 8,000 Gallon Type 27 Tank Car was one of the most popular standard design riveted tank cars of the first half of the twentieth century. ACF® built more than 1,800 of these cars for a wide variety of customers in the petroleum, chemical, and food industries. Virtually every bulk liquid or gas of the era was shipped in these cars (and its similar 10,000 gallon brother). Typical products included petroleum, acids, alcohol, propane, ammonia, molasses and vegetable oil.

Specifications: Underframe general design: 2 – 13" channel center sills with riveted top plate, 4 – 7" channel side sills (bolsters to end sills), 2 – 9" channel end sills to form the structure. Underframe width of 9'-3" for cars 10,000 gal. or smaller. Wood running boards (1 ⅞" x 11¾" wide) and side dome platforms (often 1 ⅞ " x 7½" wide x 4' or longer). Standard underframe lengths (some changed over time). Standard tank designs with 3 courses, 2 courses for small capacity cars. Standard tank diameters and lengths for common sizes (6,000 to 10,000 gallon @ 1,000 gallon increments). Hand rails 1 ¼" O.D. pipe. 30" diameter domes on most 103A/103B acid cars.

Road Name History: Union Tank Car Company or UTLX (their best known reporting mark) is a railway equipment leasing company (and car maintenance / manufacturing) headquartered in metro Chicago, Illinois. As the name says, they specialise in tank cars, and covered hopper cars. As of September 2005, according to their site, they have about 80,000 cars in their fleet.

Union Tank Car Company was founded in 1866 by Captain Jacob J. Vandergrift, in response to the economic activities of John D. Rockefeller in the years leading up to his creation of Standard Oil. Vandergrift was involved in the conflicts in the oil regions of Western Pennsylvania in the 1860s?1870s. Eventually, Union Tank Car Company and Vandergrift's other holdings, which included pipeline and riverboat transport companies, merged with the company that later became Standard Oil. Rockefeller, once Captain Vandergrift's nemesis, made him Vice President of Standard Oil. The town of Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, built in 1895 by steel company president George G. McMurtry to house his workers, was named in Vandergrift's honor.

TransUnion was formed as a holding company in 1968 to hold Union Tank Car Company. TransUnion soon began began acquiring credit information and information management companies as a second major investment. The Marmon Group acquired TransUnion in 1981, spinning off the TransUnion name and the financial portion of the holding company to Madison Dearborn Partners in the 1990s.

Union Tank Car Company is still owned by Marmon, which in turn is now a 100% owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway.

Brand/Importer Information: InterMountain was founded in 1985 by Fred Brummet. They got started in the model railroad business by producing O-Scale model kits. They got started in the N Scale business almost a decade later when in 1994 they introduced the 40-23 reefer car in kit form. Later, in 1998, they started producing RTR (Ready-to-Run) models. By the early 2000s, InterMountain phased out kit production in favor of the RTR models.

The InterMountain Railway company is located at 1224 Boston Ave in Longmont, CO. They are a manufacturer of HO, N and Z scale model trains. They have produced kits as well as RTR (Ready-To-Run) models. Their N Scale products include locomotives as well as rolling stock. Their rolling stock lineup includes Boxcars, Hoppers, Tank Cars, Reefers, Gondolas, Stock Cars and Flatcars.

Their locomotive releases have primarily been diesel units, with the one major exception being their series of AC-12 Cab Forward steam locos. Their diesel lineup includes F3's, F7's, F9's, SD40's, SD45's and FT units. They are known for quality and detail. They also release their rolling stock in larger varieties of road numbers than most of the other manufacturers.