Sunshine Models UTLX X-3 Tank Cars

The latest HO scale cast resin kits from Sunshine are the Union Tank Line X-3 uninsulated tank cars. They feature snap together tank segments, cast resin underframes, etched brass and stanless steel details and proprietary decals. The kits sell for $34 each.

The Union Tank Line's X-3 was the most numerous tank car in the U.S. during the classic era. The X-3 was as close to a standardized tank car as the nation's railroads came. Sunshine has introduced highly accurate reproductions of the nominal 38' frame 10,000 gallon and the 32' frame, large diameter 8,000 gallon tank cars. The UTLX tanks are Sunshine's 15th Anniversary kits.

UTLX was the largest tank car line with over 41,000 cars in 1948. The X-3 design was its bid for standardization in the '20s and '30s. It featured an extended underframe relative to the tank length. The extra spacve between bolster and end sill was filled with a wood platform. The cars had unique yellow lettering on black, a single left side ladder and stanchions on the tank straps.

The era of uninsulated tank cars began before the turn of the century, greatly expanded with the advent of the automobile, but reached its zenith during World War II. Solid trains of tank cars in multiple sections rolled from the oil fields of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Kansas, Arkansas, Wyoming and California to the refineries and industries of the nation. Refined products were moved to chemical producers and oil and gas distributors. The gradual introduction of foreign oil, petrochemical plants on the Gulf Coast, liquefied gas and pipelines changed the emphasis to specialty tank cars in the 1950s and '60s.

The X-3 underframe was designed in various lengths to accommodate different tank lengths. The lengths were associated with varying liquid volumes. There were four major sizes of UTLX-design uninsulated tank cars. The 37'5" frame X-3s carried an 8'7" diameter 10,000 gallon or a 6'4" diameter 8,000 gallon ("skinny 8") tank. The 32'2" frame X-3 carried and 8,000 gallon tank ("squat 8") with 8'7" diameter or a 6'4" 6,500 gallon tank. The squat or short 8,000 gallon tank was a shortened large diameter 10,000 gallon tank. The 6,500 gallon tank was a shortened small diameter 8,000 gallon tank.

Cars of 10,000 gallon capacity had a nominal weight of 100,000 pounds weight capacity. Cars of 6,500 gallon and 8,000 gallon had an 80,000 pound rating.

The different sized tanks were clustered in various blocks of car numbers. However, these blocks were not exclusively one size, but mixed. Thus only generalizations can be made about the car numbers. For example, a large percentage of the 6,500 gallon tanks were in the 26-12749 block, some 6,331 in total. The 16000-17799 series contained a high percentage of squat 8,000 gallon tanks, 1,449 cars. The 18000-22999 series had a high percentage of skinny 8,000 gallon tanks, 2,875 in total. Most of the 10,000 gallon tanks were in the 26000-42999 series, some 6,759 of these cars. In all cases, however, cars of other sizes were in the number series. Some of the four major standard cars were found in other number series, as well. Photos and Equipment Registers provide the only conclusive car number evidence.

Relying on steel for all major components, tank cars had an unusually long life span. Cars that were built in the Twenties and Thirties and those few added in the war years lasted into the 1970s and 1980s. By 1965, UTLX had 49,000 cars on its roster. While many large, modern tanks and many specialty tanks had been added, the old oil tank cars, while obsolete in design, were still serving the company.

To achieve the fine detail of these open frame cars, .005" etched brass straps, defect card holders, stirrups, placards and brake lever plate are included. Etched stainless steel brake levers and hand rail junctions and chain are part of the kits. The kits are vacuum cast in gray urethane. The tank is comprised of two cast segments that snap together. Both styles of wood end platforms are in the kits. Kits include all detailing parts (except trucks and couplers) and proprietary decals. Full instructions and a six page Prototype Data Sheet are included.