Two Athearn tankers

This post covers two styles of modern Athearn tankers: the 30K ethanol tanker and the 33K LPG tanker.

There have been at least 3 generations of these cars produced now: the first had truck-mount couplers with dodgy end platforms, the second had body-mount couplers, but no additional detail, the third added cut levers and air hoses to the end detail. This post covers the two body-mount phases, but not the the truck-mount models. (Those will eventually get bespoke 3-d printed replacement platforms.)

These are both very straightforward retro-fits with short shank couplers. The only modification I made to the model was to add a ~0.25 mm printed truck washer to bring the coupler height to spec, but this is optional. They are close enough to spec to work reliably without it. (I'm just anal.)

The improvement in appearance and reliability is awesome, and the reduction in coupled car spacing is dramatic compared to the stock McHenry couplers:

These will look even better when they're weathered - and eventually replaced with shelf couplers.