Now I'm looking for pics of those big ol' oil storage tanks if you got em...not referring to any kind of train car. Here's mine - in the early stages of development.. (any mods...please tell me why these aren't coming thru..??) pics can be viewed here [ 14. October 2003, 17:22: Message edited by: nscale_lover ]
I did a Yahoo/Google image search and found tons of good pics of oil refinery storage tanks, if that's what you're looking for. Walthers seems to make the most decent model for N scale, I was thinking of putting a few tanks on my layout. Were you thinking of scratchbuilding some? I'm not to that point yet but I'm wondering what you were thinking of doing... I bet it'd be easy with pvc pipe and a styrene cap. The ladder/stairway could be difficult but I think there are manufacturers who make kits for tanks. [ 12. October 2003, 06:41: Message edited by: Derek ]
I made mine by using six inch PCV pipe couplings. I covered the ends with .020 inch sheet styrene and added doors and vents. This picture is supposed to be a jet fuel storage tank on Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas. Now, I am also practicing my photo posting procedures. Please be patient. [ 12. October 2003, 15:22: Message edited by: sapacif ]
For smaller tanks, how about using the cardboard centers from toilet rolls...they even have that line spiralling around them for doing your staircase :>) Could use em for grains silo's if they were too small for oil tanks ..
I saw an article in MR about a movie studio that use the caps to spray paint cans for a movie set made to N scale.
Flash, nice!! For my oil storage tank, I'm using the cover on my CD spindle 50-pack - its about 5" wide and I cut it down to about 3.5" tall - I just primered it and it looks great so far! Final coats will be white with ____ colored trim - and I haven't decided on the brand yet (which will determine trim color). The reason I asked is I was wondering how many pipes are typically used - from the top, sides, etc.... I took the edges of some plastic "trees" from a couple of kits that I had made previously and thinking I'll just use them - unless I can find some bendable plastic or metal. My stairs wont be curved becuse I have two tanks and was going to utilize one staircase between the two then a catwalk out to each tank's center. I'll try and get a pic up soon. [ 14. October 2003, 05:12: Message edited by: nscale_lover ]
here's a link for someones "plant" http://members.tripod.com/CanadianNational/newpage3.htm kinda cool - little too small for what I want [ 14. October 2003, 16:25: Message edited by: nscale_lover ]
HOLY SCHNIKEYS!!! now HERE is a project! [ 14. October 2003, 16:43: Message edited by: nscale_lover ]
Interesting string, Hey nscale lover. I liked the pictures and your idea of using a cd holder for your tank top. The quality of modelling was great. I hate to do this (offer criticism) but, I wanted to let you know that I have never seen a prototype such as you are representing. Typically the piping to and from a tank is at the bottom. In the type of tank it appears you are modeling, the roof is floating. That means the roof rises and falls as the amount of oil, gasoline, whatever, changes in the tank. If so, I would suspect that to make your piping work correctly, the pipe must go to the bottom of the tank. The problem is that leaves a lot of pipe exposed to the elements and subject to breakage or damage. I suggest checking out some of the pictures others have offered for a view of how petroleum terminals are set up and the piping is run. By the way, don't forget to include a berm or dike around your tanks. These contain any product in the event of a tank malfunction. Oh, and a "flammable" or "no smoking" sign would also be a good addition. I have seen cases where the piping is led over the berm and cases where the piping is run through the berm. Your choice. Don't forget to include little stands to hold the piping on. You can cut up Plastruct I-beams to make these. Like I say, I do not wish to offer criticism and there may be a prototype that matches your models. If so, let me know, I would like to see. Regards, Clifton Linton
One more thing, that picture with the brown tanks was taken in the San Francisco Bay area. The refinery must have painted the tanks brown in an effort to make them blend in with the nearby hills. I'm sorry when you have an object that big, no matter what color you paint it it's hard to make it blend in with anything. Clifton Linton
Clifton, I've looked for pics, just cant seem to find good "roof shots"...any suggestions on key words to use for a google image search? Appreciate the comments though and I will be adding a lot more (yard fence, overspill wall, no smoking signs, etc..) when that time comes. I think that those brown tanks need some trees and shrubbery painted on them as well, that would look cool! [ 14. October 2003, 17:53: Message edited by: nscale_lover ]
Dear nscale_lover, one more thing, just read one of your earlier posts on this thread. typically there are no more than two pipes to a tank - One to add product to the tank and one to remove product. You could only have one pipe to the tank if the line can be reversed - that is you can open and shut valves so that the liquid can run through the pump in either direction. It really depends on the prototype. There really isn't much more piping involved on any individual tank. Some have vent pipes which are okay if you are modelling the old days up to the 1960s, But after the passage of the clean air act, refineries started reducing vent piping. Now the whole system is pretty contained. None of the vapors that form on top of the tanks is allowed to escape into the air. However, you may see a pipe leading from the tank that carries the captured vapors. One other thing to think about and complicate things even more. If your models contain two different products - say gasoline and crude oil, that will increase the amount of piping you have. You can't have one trunk line that feeds all your tanks, you will need a separate line for each product serving the tank that holds that product. I.E. if you have 3 tanks with gasoline, and 2 with diesel and 1 with crude oil, you will have three sets of piping serving those tanks. Anyway, pick what works best for you. Sorry, I have gone on quite a bit. Clifton Linton
I think they'll be the same...as this is my 1st layout - don't want to get too complicated. I will need a distribution platform somewhere for the train cars though
Hey Mike, I went driving at lunch today and went by a couple of oil / fuel distribution depots. The tanks that I saw all had a curved staircase up the side. I did however, spy one tank with a staircase as you have described. It was quite smaller than the rest (about 30 feet high). I think that real estate is the reason for the curved staircases. Because tanks are normally so tall, a straight staircase would take up a lot of valuable room. As far as piping goes, all of the tanks had piping coming out of the bottom 1/4 of the tank. I couldn't see the entire roof, but I did see vents and other apparatus on the roof. I also saw a small pipe the came from the roof and ran down the side of the tank all the way to the ground. I doubt this pipe carried oil or fuel (it was too small). Not sure of its purpose. I hope this helps. I didn't have my camera or I would have snapped a few pics for ya. BTW, I will be doing the same thing on my layout but I haven't gotten there yet. Later, [ 14. October 2003, 20:46: Message edited by: mdrzycimski ]
Thx Mike... appreciate the thought...funny how I too notice oil/fuel structures 1000% more now that I'm working on one (and same true when I was working my truss) Maybe I'll make those rooftop pipes narrower - but although not truly protypical, I think I still like more pipes vs less pipes (wherever orifice they might come from). I thought because the tanks were close enough, a common staircase would be better, although I'm sure in real life that would violate some safety reg regarding emergency exits
Hey nscale_lover, It is completely prototypical to have two or more tanks accessed by one stair or ladder and reach the roofs via catwalks. This arrangement does tend to be on smaller tanks. The safety reason you alluded to is first of all the worry about a tank fire spreading from one tank to another. The other is the diking system. The dike or berm must encompass a certain amount of volume (read that depth and floorplan) based on the capacity of the tanks. I don't know the formula. But, for modelling purposes it's not too important. Just make sure you include the dikes. I was going to suggest that you contact the GATX corp. for pics of tanks and the roofs. They used to have a really nice book showing their terminals many of the shots were from a helicopter. I just went to their Web site today and noticed that they are no longer in the business. That line of research is out the window. I guess just keep browsing the Web and see what you can find, is my suggestion. Good luck with your project. I can see you are off to a pretty good start already. Regards, Clifton Linton
