Designed to haul a wide variety of liquid loads, tank cars have been a crucial element of freight railroading since the pioneer era, hauling water, oil, and other commodities that were invaluable for shaping the nation. These single-dome examples represent some of the last cars built with a riveted tank design, delivered between the late 1920s and early 1940s before welded construction became more commonplace. Found across North America for the rest of the 20th century, our model represents cars in both their heyday, serving private owners, and later in life, when remaining examples were rolled into maintenance-of-way service to provide a water supply for maintenance operations on Class I railroads. Some cars operating in this capacity could continue to be found into the 21st century.
