Micro-Trains - 065 00 740 - Tank Car, Single Dome, 39 Foot - Warren Petroleum - 204

Model Information: Dating back to 1979, this is the oldest and most popular of Micro-Trains tank cars. Over 200 different regular issues of this body style have been produced as well as hundreds more special runs, including the 2016 N Scale Enthusiast banquet car.

This car models tank cars of approximately 8,000 gallons. The prototypes were built in the 1950's and appeared on freight railroads across the United States and Canada.

Prototype History: Single Dome tank cars are a railroad staple. They have been around since the first half of the 20th century. This length car can handle about 10,000 gallons. These railcars carry a wide array of commodities, including liquid fertilizers, chemicals, fuel oils and asphalt, and food-grade oils. Tank cars can be pressurized or non-pressurized, insulated or non-insulated. Single dome cars carry only a single commodity at once. Food-service tank cars may be lined with stainless steel, glass, or plastic. Tank cars carrying dangerous goods are generally made of different types of steel, depending on the intended cargo and operating pressure. They may also be lined with rubber or coated with specialized coatings for tank protection or product purity purpose. The tank heads are also stronger to prevent ruptures during accidents.

One common version is the ACF Type 27 jacketed tank car with expansion dome which was in common use by many railroads and oil companies.

Road Name History: The Tulsa-based Warren Petroleum Company was founded by William Kelly Warren (1897–1990). Born in Nashville, Tennessee, on December 3, 1897, Warren was the son of Thomas Hines and Amelia Elizabeth Cecil Warren. While attending parochial schools in Nashville, he became acquainted with Myrtle (Mrs. Daniel A.) McDougal of Sapulpa, Oklahoma, who advised him to "go West." Heeding her advice, in February 1916 he boarded the train to Sapulpa, and he was awed by the booming oil industry. Before leaving Nashville, Warren met Natalie Overall, and while he was in Oklahoma their relationship grew. They were married on September 21, 1921, and had six daughters and one son.

With McDougal's help, Warren found a job with the railroad serving Depew and Shamrock in the heart of the oil country. That job lasted five days. He could not resist the lure of the oil fields. Wanting to gain all the experience he could, he worked for Gypsy Oil Company, Gilliland Oil Company, Gulf Oil Corporation, Margay Oil Corporation, and McMan Oil and Gas Company in Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana during the following months. Finally, on March 15, 1922, he founded Warren Petroleum Company of Delaware, headquartered in Tulsa. He had three hundred dollars in the bank, and the company had two employees, Warren and his wife.

Wanting to find his niche in the petroleum industry, Warren concentrated on marketing natural gasoline and liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) by purchasing the production of gasoline plants. By 1925 the company owned the output of thirty-one plants in five states and by 1929 had expanded to fifty plants. In 1929 Warren organized Western Gasoline Company, which became Warren Petroleum Company of Oklahoma in 1932 and Warren Petroleum Corporation in 1937. By 1953 one of the largest producers and marketers of natural gasoline and LPG in the world, the company had more than two thousand employees, six shipping terminals in Texas, New Jersey, Florida, and Alabama, LPG plants in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Illinois, and Indiana, and the world's largest privately owned fleet of railroad tank cars. When Gulf Oil Corporation purchased Warren Petroleum Corporation for more than $420 million on November 10, 1953, it was the largest exchange of money in the nation's energy industry up to that time.

William Warren founded the Transwestern Pipeline Company in 1959. However, most of his time was occupied by the William K. Warren Foundation, which he had established in 1945 and which received the legacy of Warren Petroleum Corporation. The foundation was instrumental in the establishment of Tulsa's St. Francis Hospital in 1960. Warren died in Tulsa on June 12, 1990.

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