Lionel Spotlights New Tank Cars

For those who are distinctly lacking a tank car presence in their collection or layout, the latest new product spotlight from Lionel is sure to turn some heads. 

Tank cars are becoming ever more popular on the rails and in collections, and Lionel aims to meet that new demand with their latest take on 30,000 Gallon tank car three-packs available in a few different company names. You can read all the details and see the photos below (click for full size images). 

New Product Spotlight – 30,000 Gallon Tank Cars

Between the development of ethanol and the rise in North American oil production, America’s freight car builders have been on a tank car-building bonanza in the past decade. Builders are working hard to meet the demand with enough new car orders on the books to provide job security for years to come. It’s an exciting time on the railroad – and a great new service opportunity for your layout too.

Tank cars come in all shapes and sizes. The design of choice for these new cars is classified T-108 by the American Association of Railroads. It is a fairly simple car, which is non-pressurized, has a single loading point on top and single bottom discharge outlet and can carry 30,000 gallons of product. Thanks to all of this new production, it is quickly becoming one of the most common cars of any type on the rails today.

As an added benefit to modelers and train watchers, with the more “eco-friendly” ethanol products on board, many car owners are once again adding corporate logos and at least a little splash of color to the sides of the cars. That being said, basic black, gray and white schemes are still quite common.

We’ll take a closer look at ethanol cars and operations in this week’s upcoming Freight Car Friday feature. Whether you model this operation or not, no modern freight train would be complete without a few of these tank cars and Lionel has just what you need.

Our 30,000 gallon tank cars feature:

• Die-cast metal sprung trucks with rotating roller bearing caps
• Operating couplers with hidden uncoupling tabs
• Die-cast metal end sills
• Metal ladders, safety rails, steps and railings
• Etched metal platform walkways
• Opening fuel hatch cover
• Individual non-consecutive road numbers
• O31 minimum curve

The cars are all available as 3-packs in ACFX, ADM, Procor and UTLX – some of the most common owners and leasers on the rails today. You’ll regularly see these cars of the same and different companies running together in small groups or unit trains. Mix them with some of our previous runs for even more variety and longer trains. The sets retail for $ 239.99. See your dealers, the tank cars should be rolling to you this summer.

These sleek tank cars feature some nice prominent company logos and loads of details, making them a pretty fun addition to any collection. It's becoming increasingly common to see these cars on the rails, so it's only fitting that they find a more prominent place in your layout or collection as well. Keep an eye out for these products on the DASH Marketplace as the summer continues to roll along.