Conoco Tank Cars

Some of the most recognizable cars in Colorado and Southern freights during the last years of narrow gauge operation are the Conoco tank cars. They carried gasoline and other fuels to the towns along the Clear Creek and South Park lines. There were several variations of tank cars. The earliest ones are simply tanks strapped to wooden flat cars. Later variants had unique steel underframes. 

I found an old Taurus Products kit at a train show that models the wooden underframe version. About the same time I began construction of the kit, San Juan Models came out with their excellent ready to run models of the steel underframe cars. I decided to have both versions on my narrow gauge roster.

The kit is a true craftsman build. It includes a cast resin tank, cast metal and plastic details, and stripwood for assembling the underframe. There was a nice set of scale drawings that were very helpful in laying out the parts. I started by building the underframe out of the supplied stripwood, using carpenters glue to hold everything together. The deck was a single sheet with scribed seams to represent boards. The final steps were adding the cast metal bolsters, queen posts, brake details, and truss rods made from fishing line.

To simplify later assembly I decided to paint the underframe now, before attaching the tank. The paint scheme, except for the deck, is simple black from a rattle can. The deck was painted with successive washes of artist oils in a few shades of gray and brown. The resulting effect looks very close to wood treated with creosote. I now had a decent model of a narrow gauge flat car.

The rest of the kit involves assembling the tank and mounting it to the deck using wooden cradles and styrene straps. The cradles and head blocks were shaped by filing and sanding the provided wood strips. Following the kit instructions, I drilled holes in the ends and connected the blocks with brass wire tie rods before glueing the assembly to the deck. 

The tank itself needed only attachment of the handrails and safety valve. After painting the tank black, I glued it onto the cradles and the deck. The prototype tank was secured to the underframe using steel straps. The kit models these using styrene strip. 

No trucks are supplied with the kit. I found a pair of arch bar trucks in my parts bin that looked about right. Finishing touches included air hoses and Sergent couplers. I used the supplied decals to complete the car as CONX 5. 

The finished kit is not as finely detailed as the ready to run car, but it has its own unique personality. It’s interesting to compare the differences between the two designs.