Tank car
Overview
 
A tank car is a type of railroad (UIC
International Union of Railways
The UIC , or International Union of Railways, is an international rail transport industry body.- Brief history :The railways of Europe originated as separate concerns. There were many border changes after World War I and the Treaty of Versailles. Colonial railways were the responsibility of the...

: railway) rolling stock
Rolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...

 designed to transport liquid
Liquid
Liquid is one of the three classical states of matter . Like a gas, a liquid is able to flow and take the shape of a container. Some liquids resist compression, while others can be compressed. Unlike a gas, a liquid does not disperse to fill every space of a container, and maintains a fairly...

 and gaseous commodities
Commodity
In economics, a commodity is the generic term for any marketable item produced to satisfy wants or needs. Economic commodities comprise goods and services....

.
  • 1865: Flats
    Flatcar
    A flatcar is a piece of railroad or railway rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck on four or six wheels or a pair of trucks or bogies . The deck of the car can be wood or steel, and the sides of the deck can include pockets for stakes or tie-down points to secure loads...

     with banded wooden tanks mounted on top are employed for the first time to transport crude oil from the fields of Pennsylvania during the Pennsylvanian oil rush
    Pennsylvanian oil rush
    The Pennsylvanian oil rush was a "boom" in petroleum production which occurred in northwestern Pennsylvania from 1859 to about 1870. It was the first oil boom in the United States....

    .
  • 1869: Wrought iron tanks (with an approximate capacity of 3500 US gal or 13.2 m³ per car) replace wooden tanks.
  • 1888: Tank car manufacturers sell units directly to the oil companies, with capacities ranging from 6000 to-.
  • 1903: Tank car companies develop construction safety standards.
 
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