May 21st ebay photo

[Dave Johnson]

In the ebay photo from May 21st, there is an unmarked oil storage tank shown in Idaho Springs.  The comments were this photo was from the 1901-1906 period.  My question is, whose storage tank was this and what narrow gauge cars delivered petroleum products to this tank?  The Continental Oil Co. was owned by Standard Oil at this time and the ORER from that period, shows no Continental Oil Co. cars.  I also didn't find any Standard Oil tank cars.  Ferrell has an 1894 equipment list in his "South Park" book and it lists car #24231 as a tank car.  This would seem to be a 26' Litchfield box car, which was cut down to a flat and then had a tank added.  Does anyone know who owned the tank and if this car was sold to an oil company and renumbered?  I can't find the tank car in the early 1900s C&S ORER listing.
Dave Johnson

[Jim Courtney]

Good questions, Dave. I have no answers unfortunately.

To refresh everyone's memory, this is the discussion of the photo you are referencing:  http://c-sng-discussion-forum.41377.n7.nabble.com/C-amp-S-Photos-on-eBay-td8859i140.html

(Second photo on that page)

[Dave Johnson]

The tank at Idaho Springs appears to be longer than the boxcar, so it must be at least over 24' long.  That would probably make it a 6,000 gallon or 50,000 lb capacity tank.  To keep it filled would require a tank car of 4,000 to 6,000 gallons.  CONX 5 comes to mind, as the tank was stenciled, as being built prior to 1895, but there doesn't seem to be any history of it before it was lettered for CONOCO.  Most likely, CONX 5 was an old standard gauge tank, set on a narrow gauge flat at a later date.

The other thought is a tank set on a Litchfield flat car, would have to be a very small tank, as the original trucks on the Litchfield, don't have the capacity for even a 4,000 gallon tank.  I can't recall seeing a tank car of less than 4,000 gallons, but it would seem a tank of around 3,000 gallons would be required.  That would indicate a very old tank and likely one which would have been replaced or scrapped before the C&S.  What was there to fill in for those years between 1900 and the coming of the CONOCO tank cars?
Dave Johnson

[Ken Martin]

Dave,

I found these references in the ORER.
I have no idea of what type or size of tank was put on the cars or what they were used for.
I did see in a list of cars destroyed during USRA that one was destroyed but don't recall which one.

KIND                                                        
OF CAR           ROAD           1899#       1911#      LEN        YEAR.    QUAN
TANK,ex/flat    C&S         1055-1066                       30          1903           2
TANK,ex/flat    C&S       01056, 01066                    30           1907          2
                NOTE:TANKS LISTED IN 1903 AND 1907 E.R. ONLY.

Ken Martin

[Dave Johnson]

That is very good information.  I didn't look at the 1903 & 1907 ORERs.  Those were supposed to be 1884, 30', 20 ton flat cars.
Dave Johnson