On April 22, 2019 at 7:30 PM "G.J. Irwin" <groups@...> wrote:

With the April UMTRR out the door, I'm back to my occasional search for that second run of the Vinegar Tank Car that we discussed here a few weeks ago.

And instead, I came across the "Trade Topics" review of the A1G 94 Foot Tank Car on Page 12 of the September 1970 issue of Model Railroader.? (I have the DVD of the 1934-2009 collection.)? The review mentions "prototypes" when only one was built.? And of course no discussion that there was only one prototypical paint scheme, GATX, because there was only one car!

MR wrote, "The cars will actually negotiate curves of 7.5" (19-cm.) radius, although they look more at home on greater radii."? Hmm, maybe I should dig out that Minitrix track I have around here somewhere... It's also noted that the car weighed one and one-quarter ounces.? There's a prototype photo accompanying the article as well as a photo collage of all four models (GATX, Citgo, Texaco, Wanda Petroleum).

This release is what I call the last of the A1G line.? And with that find, or perhaps I should say rediscovery, I can tag 1970 as the release year for these items.? As another reference, Bachmann had just introduced their N Scale Metroliner model--only in Penn Central! No Amtrak until the next year.

Cheers,
George