AHM helium tank car
The unusual-looking helium tank car might seem like a fantasy model to some, but it’s based on a real prototype.
General American, American Car & Foundry, and Magor built about 200 helium cars from 1930 to 1962. The early cars were lettered for the U.S. Navy (with USNX reporting marks), then after 1955 for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (ATMX) and the Bureau of Mines and Land Management (MHAX). Weighing over 230,000 pounds, they were some of the heaviest freight cars ever built.
The government quit hauling helium by rail years ago, but I saw a couple of helium cars at Cape Canaveral in 2000. A few of them are preserved at the Gulf Coast Railroad Museum in Miami and the Amarillo (Texas) Railroad Museum.
