CHICAGO GREAT WESTERN BLACK GATC TANK CAR 1955-1970

CHICAGO GREAT WESTERN BLACK GATC TANK CAR 1955-1970

Bottom line first: I am quite pleased to have this iconic tank car for my collection of HO scale Chicago Great Western models.

From 1954 to 1957, the CGW took delivery of 42 19K gallon tank cars from American Car & Foundry and General American Transportation Corp. They were “color-code” painted – most of them in maroon, some with a yellow band around the dome, for diesel fuel loading, a few in black for oil loading, one in green for lube oil, and one in silver for kerosene.

In the March, 1990 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman, Rev Bill Landis wrote an article about scratchbuilding these cars. Basically kitbashed Athearn models, they more closely resembled the ACF than the GATC cars.

Now, some 35 years later, Roka Models have done a run of RTR 16K gallon GATC tank cars, painted, lettered, and numbered for the CGW in all the above noted paint schemes save for the single silver kerosene loading car, # 290. I do not have blueprints or even scale line drawings from which to make precise comparison between prototype and model, and “rivet counters” may take me to task for this, but I think the Roka cars are reasonable stand-ins for the 19K gallon CGW cars. Some noteworthy CGW/GATC specific details: correct configuration of the handrails, Superior horizontal hand brakes, double tank bands at each end, and Barber roller bearing trucks.

To my eye, the most faithful-to-prototype color rendition of the Roka cars are the two black oil loading cars, #s 254 and 262. Lettering is crisp and accurately placed. On the top of the tank, on both sides of the dome, there is a 5 ft wide light gray patch, which I cannot make out on prototype photos I’ve seen, all of which were taken after the car had been in service for many years. Perhaps, the patch was an “as-delivered” paint feature which became obscured over time with weathering and grime? Otherwise, my model seems a very good likeness of the prototype photo by E E Valentine pictured in Gene Green’s Chicago Great Western Color Guide to Freight and Passenger Equipment.

Being a Chicago Great Western modeler and having grown up along the CGW's Chicago-Oelwein mainline, I am very pleased ROKA chose the uniquely painted CGW tank cars to offer in HO scale. These cars are magnificent. Paint is superb and the lettering is crisp, and the detail is spot-on. I highly recommend these cars to all CGW modelers (actually to ALL modelers).

The models are very detailed and nicely done. Does any one make semi scale wheels with the rotating bearing caps? I changed out the #5 for scale kadee. Thanks for making the cars.
Gregor Moe

Best detailed models of this i have ever seen! Worth the money!