Tank Cars: Fuel Oil

As noted, gasoline and other road fuel oils accounted for 825 tank cars shipped to CT in 1950.

But Refined Petroleum, NOS accounted for over 4,000 tank cars. Most of these would be for various grades of Fuel Oils. In the Consolidated Freight Classifications from 1943, it falls under the category of 36420 Crude Oil. This includes:

• Crude oil in its natural state...not blended with other products
• Residual Fuel Oil
• Distillate Fuel Oil, not suitable for illuminating purposes
• Gas-oil

What is Fuel Oil, and what is it used for?  There are different grades of Fuel Oil, which is determined by how refined they are. They are numbered from most refined to least refined. The oils with less refinement are also less expensive, but are thicker and have more impurities.

No. 1 Fuel Oil is similar to kerosene and is also known as Range Oil.

No. 2 is used for home and commercial heating and furnaces.

No. 3 was an older type that was not generally used any more. 

No. 4, also known as Bunker A Oil, is used as an industrial heating oil. 

No. 5, or Bunker B Oil, is heavier and requires pre-heating to 170-220 degrees F use in industrial boilers. Tank cars shipping this oil required heater coils and often used insulation.

No. 6, or Bunker C Oil, is heavier still, and requires pre-heating to 220-260 degrees F for use. Used in ships and large industrial boilers. Tank cars shipping this oil required heater coils and often used insulation.

There are other products that fall under this category. Kerosene is similar to Range Oil.  Gas Oil is a distillate between No. 1 and No. 2 Fuel Oil. This was used in the carbureted water gas process and, in my case, will be delivered to New Britain Gas Light Co. 

Many retail dealers advertised Range and Fuel Oil. These would be No. 1 and 2 Fuel oils. These were shipped in general service tank cars with or without insulation. 

Without concrete information as to what grades of Fuel Oil the major industries used, I could waybill for any of the "Bunker" grades. Bunker C is probably likely in the larger industries, since it was the least expensive option.

One of the reasons I think more fuel oil was shipped by rail than gasoline is because of the viscosity of grades 4-6, making it impractical to utilize pipelines. Being less refined, they are more likely to be shipped directly from their source, rather than regional refineries, too. This appears to be the case, as more than 1/4 of the fuel oil shipped to CT by tank car came from Texas. In total, thirteen states shipped Refined Petroleum, NOS to CT via rail in 1950, and almost 3/4 of that was from Texas (1225), Pennsylvania (800), New Jersey (625), and Illinois (425). 

Tank cars filled with Fuel Oil were placarded as "Dangerous." When empty, an Empty Dangerous placard would be applied.

Like gasoline, any "general service" tank car is suitable for these commodities, with some requiring heater coils. The coils were used during unloading, not during transport, to help the product flow better. While connections could sometimes been seen on the ends of the car for these coils, it appears that they were more commonly located under the car. I indicate whether a car is so equipped based on the lettering on the model, or the 1955 Tank Car Capacities Tariff available to purchase here.

Tangent GATC 1917-design radial course tank car. According to the tank car tariff, this car was equipped with heater coils and would be appropriate for the heavier grades of Fuel Oil.

Tangent GATC 1984-design welded tank car. Equipped with heater coils.

Proto 2000 Type 21 tank car. This car is also equipped with heater coils.

Rapido UTLX X-3 tank car. This car is not equipped with heater coils, so would not be used for the heavier grades.

Proto 2000 Type 21 Insulated tank car. Although insulated, it is not equipped with heater coils. Since I model early November, I will probably waybill this for No. 2 Fuel Oil. While it did not require heater coils, it does get more viscous when cold so an insulated tank could be beneficial.

Tangent GATC Three-compartment tank car. Cars like this would often be used to ship multiple grades of products. For example, Gasoline, Range Oil, and No. 2 Fuel Oil. Multiple compartment cars would also be used in L.C.L service to deliver smaller quantities to multiple customers.