Athearn HO scale 16,000-gallon clay slurry tank car

A highly-detailed 16,000-gallon clay slurry tank car is available from Athearn. The Ready-to-Roll model, based on the UTLX Mfg. prototype, features numerous freestanding parts and plastic double-shelf knuckle couplers.

What is clay slurry? When kaolin, a soft white clay mined in the south-eastern United States and found throughout the world, is mixed with water, clay slurry is formed. Kaolin is used in paper production and the manufacturing of bricks, ceramics, and medicines. Clay slurry is dense, so it’s shipped in lower-gallon-capacity cars.

The model has a one-piece tank with separate tank heads. The car features a high level of detail. For example, underbody details include metal brake supports, formed wire brake rods and train line, and crisply molded acetal plastic brake linkage. The model also features photoetched metal end and tank platforms and wire grab irons.

The prototype clay slurry car uses the UTLX Funnel-Flow design (tank floor slopes down to middle), for easier bottom unloading. The Athearn model includes a four-piece outlet opening device on the side of the car and an outlet nozzle on the bottom. Under close examination, you can see the outlet nozzle cap, pipe plug, and safety chain. On top of the car is the manway, safety valve, and protective housing that, on the prototype, covers valves and pipes.

The white paint is opaque and evenly applied, and the separation line is crisp. The pad printing is well done, and even the tiniest lettering is legible under magnification.

The distance between the truck centers matches the prototype drawings, but the length over the coupler faces is more than a foot too long. This is common since most model couplers are slightly oversize compared to the prototypes.

The McHenry AAR double-shelf couplers are accurate for this car. On the real cars, the shelves help lock the couplers together. This prevents the adjacent car’s coupler from slipping over the tank car’s coupler, which could potentially puncture the tank in a derailment.

This is one of the finest Ready-to-Roll cars Athearn has produced. The high level of detail, double-shelf couplers, and crisp painting and lettering all add up to a sharp looking modern car.

HO clay slurry tank car

Price: $24.98 each, three-pack $74.98

Manufacturer
Athearn Trains
1550 Glenn Curtiss St.
Carson, CA 90746
www.athearn.com
Description: plastic and metal ready-to-run model
Road names: Englehard Corp., UTLX Mfg., and undecorated

HO tank car features

Blackened-metal RP-25 contour metal wheelsets (in gauge)
McHenry AAR double-shelf
plastic knuckle couplers
(mounted at correct height)
Photoetched metal end and
tank platforms
Underbody brake detail
Weight: 4 ounces
Wire grab irons and handrails