Tank Cars: LP Gas

Another common tank car found on model railroads is the LP gas car, because of the Atlas and Kadee models. These two models are of different prototypes. The Atlas car has some accuracy issues, and some of them are lettered for cars that are correct for the Kadee model instead. But it is still a very well detailed model.

The cars in this service are insulated and pressurized. As a result, they have a "bonnet" that housed the loading/unloading connections instead of an expansion dome. The Liquified Petroleum Gas industry was growing in the early '50s. But for many towns like New Britain, it was still not a common commodity.  Coal and Fuel Oil were the predominant home heating fuels. In addition, as Town Gas started to be phased out, the fact that an underground piping system was already in place for many customers made a switch to natural gas easy.

As a result, there are no LP gas dealers in New Britain in my era. But Fafnir Bearing received LP Gas (or possibly the closely related butane) and had several tanks and a dedicated track for tank cars. 

The Fuelane Corporation was promoting their LP gas for cooking. Operating out of Liberty, NY  it seems an appropriate choice for New England. All three of these are Kadee models. 

This is the Atlas model. I think the gray is a little light, but nothing that some weathering can't fix.

The Kadee Warren car is in a simpler scheme.

This is another Atlas model, weathered by Gerry Schaefer. This car is lettered for another commodity hauled in these types of cars - Anhydrous Ammonia. Stanley Works may have used this in furnaces for hardening and tempering steel tools. It was also used as an industrial refrigerant, among other things. Kadee also has cars lettered for Mathieson Chemicals that would be appropriate for this service.