USAX #10860, September 1982

From Bob Garner (5/8/22):

I was stationed at Eielson from '70-'74 and worked in Fuels Management. These cars were used to transport JP-4, Diesel, Aviation Fuel and Gasoline to Eielson and possibly Fort Richardson. We would receive some by pipeline from Fort Richardson on occasion but mostly from these 109xx cars. Once in awhile we would get fuel in 70xx tank cars. Not sure how many there were, but I sent you a scan of them sitting somewhere down south. One time someone sent about 50 or a little more cars to Eielson that were full some time in the winter or spring. Some times, whoever filled them, put too much in some of them and by summer they were over flowing due to expansion.

We had 10 unloading headers so we could unload 10 cars (100,000 gallons) at a time as long as the spot was good. We did have 1 header ea. for Avgas, diesel and mogals as well.

If you look at the overview of Eielson, you will notice the headers are no longer there.

Just before I left they started building 6 250,000 gal tanks across the road from the 6 existing 100,000 gal tanks. I believe they also removed the 250,000 gallon (I believe) tank that sat next to the 100,000 gallon tanks. They also removed the 6 or 8 10,000 gallon tanks that were up the hill so they could use gravity to move the fuel in them. (We had to rotate the fuel every so often).

Also when they started the tank removal, they started using 20,000 gallon tank cars which was a nightmare when you tried to spot the cars, since they were set for 10,000 gallon cars and hoses were only 15' long.

By the way, Intermountain decorated there 10,000 car for 6 road #'s quite awhile ago, but they are rare. They are looking for reservations for the next 6 #'s. I believe the MSRP is 39.95.

I believe they are also looking for reservation's for the F-7's and FP-7's. If they get enough reservation's they will produce them. The Wyoming and Colorado FP-7's need reservations as well. The prices have gone up quite a bit.

If anyone wants a correct 11xxx series refrigerator cars, they have undecorated kits. These are true kits. Lots of parts but they do have good instructions. They have 2 versions, one without the roof walk and one with the roof walk (which I recommend because you can do either). I don't recall the price.

From Patrick Durand (5/8/22):

The USATC 10,000 gallon tank cars were used during and after WWII to move POL stocks from dock side in Whittier, Seward and Anchorage North on the Alaska Railroad.  My dad, John Durand was superintendent of the U.S. Army POL tank farm in Whittier from about 1952 until 1964.  This facility off loaded MSTS (Military Sea Transport Service) ocean going tankers at the finger pier that was located where the small boat dock is today.  There was a pipeline complex that extended out to West Camp at the head of the bay where the parking lot for the ARR tunnel is today.  There were I believe 9 large tanks there for storage and a two track loading rack for the Tank Cars at that location.   

Complete trains of loaded Tank Cars would move North to tank farms in Anchorage, Fairbanks and Eielson AFB with 87 octane, Aviation Gas, Diesel and JP-4.  This service was curtailed when they completed a 6 inch pipeline from Whittier to the Port of Anchorage.  They continued use of the 10,000 gallon tank cars between Anchorage and Fairbanks until larger capacity cars came into common use.  They stored about 60 of these older cars on Fort Richardson as strategic reserve during the cold war and they slowly disappeared.  They were not on the ARR roster as they belonged to the US Army. 

The Army finger pier was destroyed in the 1964 earthquake, but they quickly extended the pipe line so they could receive tankers at the surviving Delong Pier.

Just to the West of the Army dock, Union Oil company also had a finger pier in Whittier and four much smaller tanks they used to receive fuel from private tankers.  Their loading rack could only handle about 6 cars as I recall.  Their tank cars were the same 10,000 gallon design.  This facility survived until the 9.2 Good Friday Earthquake and tsunami destroyed the docks and tanks.  

A once common site on the Alaska Railroad, I don't recall seeing any on RR property in recent years.   There is a 1918 version of the 10,000 gallon tank at the Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry with the words Waste Oil painted on the side.