I spent all day looking for N scale tanker trucks, with no luck. I am not talking about a 1940ish tankwagon but rather a current version of a 9,000 - 9,500 gallon trailer and better yet a truck and trailer unit with a 4,500 gallon tank on the tractor and a 5,500 gallon pup being pulled. Anything approaching a modern truck. The N scale manufacturers have pretty much covered the tankcars with pressure and general purpose cars well represnted, but no trucks. It would be very nice to see some tank trucks to compliment the railcars. How about a propane trailer? Woulkd be nice, yes. Does anybody know of such trucks as I am talking about. Vehicles of all kinds a really lacking in N scale. I have seen some very nice fedd trailers and dry bulk trailers on Shapeway but no tankers. Carl
Con-Cor/Herpa produced a 9000 gallon tanker as part of CC's Route 66 truck line: http://www.euromodeltrains.com/trains/products/Walthers1/223/4003063.gif The model is actually well proportioned. The only problem with the body is the seperation seam along the tank body. A bit of sand and putty fixes this in a few minutes. You can upgrade the landing gear with braces, add piping under the tank, add more accurate wheels and an etched ladder in the rear. The result is a very well detailed model. GHQ also produced a gasoline tanker: http://spur-n.com/fahrzeug1/52004.jpg I think the weld seams on this model are too large, and the tank itself is too circular. The tank should be flat and wide, rather than tall and skinny. The construction is fairly complex for such a basic looking model and I think there is less effort needed to update the Con-Cor model than to build the GHQ kit. The GHQ kit has been out of production for years and shows up with inflated prices when on eBay. You will be hard pressed to find any high quality vehicles in N scale. Its just such a small niche market that few companies can justify the cost of production. N scale nearly sank Classic Metal Works, and those are all N scale modelers. Athearn has said they never really saw a return on their N scale vehicles, even though they have sold out run after run. You will need to look at Shapeways and resin kit producers. These will require skill and patience to build and paint but the results are worth it. Willmodels has some excellent kits out there that look good when painted: The small Cat D2 is from NZT next to the GHQ D8:
Carl, The Resources page on the N Scale Vehicle Association's web site is still under construction, but eventually you will be able to find out what vehicle models are available from this page: http://nscalevehicles.org/resources/models_era.php There are also a lot of 1:150 scale models that can be modified and used with 1:160 scale models. Again the page is still under construction, but you might want to check this page periodically: http://nscalevehicles.org/n_gauge_models.php And of course you will be able to keep up with the new releases on the New Products page: http://nscalevehicles.org/new_products/2013_q2.php Carter Edit: If you are willing to do some serious kitbashing, the Detail Associates tank trailer is still available: http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/229-8709
Of course you can always kit bash or scratch build your own. Look for some cheap plastic sets of N scale vehicles for parts like chassis, cab parts, and wheels. Styrene tube of various sizes and styrene rod, along with styrene strips also of various sizes. You can modify cabs to back date to your era or build a cab from styrene. The last one on the right above is the only one that was a fuel truck, either of plastic or resin, I can't remember which. For the REA trucks below I built my own cabs and used the chassis from some cheap sets along with the wheels.
Trucks N Stuff has the answer, only everything is in HO. If they would only scale down to N, we'd all be happy
I certainly agree with your dilemma not only are there not enough modern semi- tanker trucks, but try to find a modern tractor trailer grain hauler no not those little 40's & 50's single axle trucks either.
HuskerN, I have told you before that those are very well done. Is the red tractor with the body mounted hopper one of your 3D printings or is it someone elses kit? It would look great with a tank on it. Carl Sowell
Carl, the Pete is mine. I am working through a couple minor design modifications since Shapeways is finicky about their minimum wall and wire thicknesses, and should have them available soon. I just ordered another pair this weekend. Here is the latest progress: HuskerN www.nscaleaddiction.blogspot.com http://www.shapeways.com/shops/NScaleAddict
Beautiful grain truck & trailer's. Now who did you say is manufactering those & where can I purchase them.
Hi NS1980, the truck are from Atlas etc. and the trailers from Tomytec (container trucks, today they are cheap /EUR 3,50) and the tanks are made by myself with details from evergreen, but they are not finished at the moment..................................Rainer
