GATX 96500 • GATX Photos

1 CARS • 8 AXLES • FOUR 70-TON TRUCKS

General American Transportation Corp., September 1965

193,300 pounds Light Weight

246,700 pounds Load Limit

440,000 pounds Gross Weight

60,018 gallons

Specification No. : DOT-114-A-340-w

Plate C

Built for General American Transportation Corp.

Used for LPG, Anhydrous Amonia

Listed in Official Railway Equipment Register : JAN 1967-JAN 1972

GATX 96500 was the second RailWhale completed and the largest tank car in North America.  The first was UTLX 83699, completed 30 months earlier in March 1963.  GATX 96500 held 10,000 gallons more than the UTLX car, but it also weighed eight tons more.  Both of these cars rode on 70-tons trucks, making their gross weight 40 tons less than most 8-axle RailWhales. 

The car was built as an engineering exercise to test new concepts, and to promote the construction and use of really big tank cars; but it was never used in revenue service.  It was first listed in the JAN 1967 ORER, about a year and a half after it was built; and was deleted five year later.  It was donated to the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis in 1971.

GATX 96500	Tom Stolte	St. Louis, MO

CGP-23 © 2003-2013 Michael M. Palmieri