5 CARS • 6 AXLES • ASF or BUCKEYE TRUCKS
|
IAPX 1001 |
IAPX 1003, 1004 |
IAPX 1005 |
IAPX 1008 |
| Builder |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
Unknown |
| Built
| MAR-66 |
MAY-66 |
FEB-67 |
FEB-68 |
| In ORER |
JAN-66 to 2013 |
OCT-66 to JAN-07 |
OCT-67 to 2009 |
JUL-68 to 2009 |
| Light Weight |
139,450 |
130,900 |
130,100 |
119,900 |
| Load Limit |
255,500 |
263,100 |
263,900 |
274,100 |
| Gross Rail Load |
394,000 |
394,000 |
394,000 |
394,000 |
| Gallons |
25,650 |
25,650 |
24,510 |
25,464 |
| Trucks |
ASF-Buckeye |
ASF |
ASF |
Buckeye |
| Outside Length |
56-09 |
| Extreme Heigh |
14-05 |
| Extreme Width |
10-06 |
| AAR Class |
T767 (tank within a tank, cryogenic) |
| Specification No. |
AAR-204-W |
| Plate |
B |
Over a 2-year period beginning in January 1966 Industrial Air Products Co. of Portland, OR purchased five cryogenic RailWhales in four orders: IAPX 1001, 1003-1005 and 1008. The missing numbers were used on 4-axle cars that were being acquired at the same time. IAPX 1001 was one of the very first production RailWhales and was in revenue service for almost 42 years! As the table above illustrates, the cars were not identical; among other things, they kept getting lighter, with the last car weighing nine tons less than the first. The first four cars were built with American Steel Foundries Ride Control trucks, although the 1001 had these replaced with Buckeyes sometime between 1995 and 2007. IAPX 1008 always rode on Buckeye trucks.
Cryogenic cars consist of a tank within a tank for maximum insulation, and are used to move commodities such as Liquid Oxygen, Nitrogen and Argon at very low temperatures. A characteristic of many crycars, incluing these, is the absence of a dome. Access is usually through one end of the tank.
Over the years Industrial Air Products Co. became Liquid Air, Inc., then
Liquid Air Corp., and then Air Liquide America Corp. The cars retained their IAPX reporting mark through all of these changes, but their lettering changed to reflect the evolving ownership. These cars continued to display their owner's name until the very end, long after this practice ended for most tank cars.
We have good photographic coverage of these cars, with only IAPX 1004 missing! Photos show that these cars once operated over a wide area, but in their final years of service they ran exclusively between Houston, TX and a transload facility at Commerce, CA – in the Los Angeles area – via the BNSF and Los Angeles Junction Railway. These cars were among the most enduring RailWhales, as the little fleet remained intact until IAPX 1003 was removed from the ORER in OCT 2002, having been listed for 36 years.
When we began tracking these cars in May 2005 IAPX 1005 had been in Houston since March, and it remained there until its last record on 28 July 2006. Its last entry in the ORER was in JAN 2007. The other three remaining cars – IAPX 1001, 1004 and 1008 – were shuttling back and forth between Houston and Commerce, and this continued until the last car was withdrawn from service in December 2007.
IAPX 1001 arrived in Houston from California for the last time on 14 December 2007, so the very first IAPX RailWhale was also the last one in revenue service. The photo below from April 2007 shows the car on its fourth-to-last trip west.
By the time the car completed its last run it was almost 42 years old; but it had undergone a RULE 88 REBUILD at Union Tank Car's Shop 85 in Sheldon (Houston), TX in January 2000, and this enabled it to remain in service after its 40th birthday. (This may have also been when the car had its ASF trucks replaced with Buckeyes.) The 1001 remained in Houston for almost a year, until November 2008, and then moved to the Texana Tank Car & Manufacturing facility in Nash, TX. This is on the Texas Northeastern just west of Texarkana, and its last record was there on 15 January 2009.
Car 1004 arrived in Houston for the last time on 21 August 2007, about four months before the 1001. After six months in Houston, it headed north to New Prague, MN via the UP. It was there from early March 2008 through late October, and moved empty in both directions. It arrived at Texana Tank Car in Nash on 13 November – the same day as IAPX 1001 – and this was its last record. Texana has confirmed that both of these cars were dismantled there.
The 1008 arrived in Houston in early April 2006, well before the 1001 and 1004. It was interchanged from the BNSF to the UP in late September and its last record was at South Yard on 19 October 2006. All three were deleted from the ORER in OCT 2009.
| IAPX 1001 (ASF trucks) |
Kent Charles |
BN - Wind River Canyon, WY - 15 Jul 1995 |
| IAPX 1001 (Buckeyes) |
Chris Butts |
LAJ - Commerce, CA - 5 Sep 2005 |
| IAPX 1001 (Buckeyes) |
Chris Butts |
same as above - left end |
| IAPX 1001 (Buckeyes) |
Chris Butts |
same as above - equipment rack |
| IAPX 1001 (Buckeyes) |
Chris Butts |
same as above - right end |
| IAPX 1001 (Buckeyes) |
James Koretsky |
BNSF - Winslow, AZ - 22 Apr 2007 |
| IAPX 1003 (ASF trucks) |
Joseph Snopek |
CR - Palmer, MA - Oct 1989 |
| IAPX 1005 (ASF trucks) |
Jim Kinkaid Coll. |
Portland, OR - 7 Oct 1972 |
| IAPX 1008 (Buckeyes) |
Jim Kinkaid Coll. |
Portland, OR - 7 Oct 1972 |
| IAPX 1008 (Buckeyes) |
Chris Butts |
SP - Kaiser, CA - Dec 1993 |
| IAPX 1008 (Buckeyes) |
Paul Rhome |
IHB - Riverdale, IL - 20 Dec 1994 |
CGP-28 © 2003-2013 Michael M. Palmieri |
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IAPX 1005 • Jim Kinkaid Collection • Portland, OR • 7 October 1972
