S-Scale (#213)
Instructions July 26, 2024
Great Decals!, 3306 Parkside Terrace, Fairfax, VA 22031
www.greatdecals.com
Suitable Model - A soon-to-be-released 8,000-gallon kit from Pre-Size is nearly identical to the car in the photo. The S-Scale America single-dome 10,000-gallon tank car from Des Plaines Hobbies is a close match to an 8,000-gallon car. The difference in dimensions between the typical 8,000-gallon car and a 10,000-gallon car is inches. They're the same length. The diameter of the 10,000-gallon car is 10 inches larger than the typical 8,000-gallon car - 78 inches vs 88 inches. While that difference might bother the rivet counters, to all but the trained eye, they're indistinguishable. After reading through Ed Kaminski's book, Tank Cars, American Car & Foundry Company, 1865 to 1955, I learned that there are a lot of 8,000-gallon cars just like the typical Union Starch cars that have a capacity of 100,000 lbs rather than the more typical 80,000 pounds.
Road Numbers - See Union Starch fleet roster.pdf over. Mr. Thomas cautions us that it is the best he could assemble from what few documents exist from the Union Starch plant in Granite City. For additional information, see "The Union Starch and Refining Company," Larry Thomas, Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis Historical and Technical Society, Inc. (Summer 2010, Issue 70), pp 3-47.
Car Information - Union Starch & Refining Co, based in Granite City, Illinois, owned approximately 90, 8,000 gallon tank cars under their own reporting marks of USTX. In addition, Union Starch leased 9 tank cars from builder GATX. These cars went under GATX reporting marks. Shippers Car Company leased tank cars from builder AC&F, and then released approximately 65 cars to Union Starch under SHPX reporting marks. These made up the Union Starch tank car fleet which distributed corn starch, corn syrup, corn oil and caramel coloring to Coke Cola and Pepsi, Kraft Foods, etc. throughout the US.
Properly stored, these decals should remain usable for many years.
Acknowledgments - Special thanks go to William Brillinger of Precision Design Co., Norm Buckhart of Protocraft, and Lindsey Neas of Alexandria, VA, without whom this project would never have happened. Prototype photo and roster thanks to Larry Thomas, editor of the Terminal Railroad Association Historical and Technical Society's annual journal.