Micro-Trains - 154 00 050 - Tank Car, Early, Wooden - Manassas Gap - 67

Prototype History: The earliest version of tank cars, or the "oil car" as it was known then, began to appear in the early 1860s during the Civil War. Essentially, a standard flatcar was employed with two or three vertical vats placed on top. Unfortunately, the design had several flaws; the most obvious was that it could not hold much product due to height and width issues. Additionally, leaking was again an issue. By the late 1860s, following the war, the first true tank cars began to take shape. In this particular case the early vertical vat-on-flat-car design was changed to a horizontal iron tank, which was then mounted to a traditional flat car. The design was roughly similar to what is now commonly in service today, featuring a top dome (with safety valve) to load the product as well as a discharge valve at the bottom. It allowed for much more product to be shipped via one car and quickly found widespread use.

Brand/Importer Information: Micro-Trains is the brand name used by both Kadee Quality Products and Micro-Trains Line. For a history of the relationship between the brand and the two companies, please consult our Micro-Trains Collector's Guide.

Manufacturer Information: Micro-Trains Line split off from Kadee Quality Products in 1990. Kadee Quality Products originally got involved in N-Scale by producing a scaled-down version of their successful HO Magne-Matic knuckle coupler system. This coupler was superior to the ubiquitous 'Rapido' style coupler due to two primary factors: superior realistic appearance and the ability to automatically uncouple when stopped over a magnet embedded in a section of track. The success of these couplers in N-Scale quickly translated to the production of trucks, wheels and in 1972 a release of ready-to-run box cars.

Micro-Trains Line Co. split off from Kadee in 1990 to form a completely independent company. For this reason, products from this company can appear with labels from both enterprises. Due to the nature of production idiosyncrasies and various random factors, the rolling stock from Micro-Trains can have all sorts of interesting variations in both their packaging as well as the products themselves. When acquiring an MTL product it is very important to understand these important production variations that can greatly enhance (or decrease) the value of your purchase.

Please consult our Micro-Trains Collector's Guide