Tweet
This month's Gallery will feature open top rail cars (Gondolas, Flat Cars, Open Hoppers) and their loads.
As always, either model or prototype photos are welcome.
As always, either model or prototype photos are welcome.
-
Bruce -
An Athearn Blue Box kit spruced up a bit.
Bruce -
Bowser PRR GS gondola with pulpwood load for the NEB&W.
Comment
-
A 3D depressed center flatcar and load for the Keystone XL Pipeline, printed and designed by me.
Take the red pillComment
-
Coal cars on The Model RR Club layout
Comment
-
Some cars in HO. I weathered and created these in 1/2022
TomO
Comment
-
Nice work, Tom. Am I to understand you created the scrap loads? If so, could you briefly describe what you're using/etc?
Scrap loads are something I would eventually like to model for through traffic on my KC&G. (Scrap iron headed north for the KC area steel mills as well as south for the Birmingham, AL mills.)
At this point I only have one scrap load (a resin casting of uknown mfg'er), but I would like to have more.
Andre
-
-
Loads? Loads you say??
I got loads... lots of 'em.
Top L to R: Coal (resin casting straight out of the package), Gravel (resin coal casting repainted), hardwood logs for veneer use (homemade with hand carved/hand painted balsa sticks), green ties (Kappler/etc bass/spruce ties), and creosoted ties for passing over the main line of the layout on through trains (as does the tarp-covered machinery).
Bottom L to R: Tarp-covered machinery (resin casting painted/weathered), and lastly pulpwood (straight out of the package).
AND my loads are like Crackerjack's: They come with a hidden SURPRISE!
What you're seeing on the underside are weights that I've glued/attached to them. Each load has at least an ounce or more of weight. (Except for the tarp loads. Haven't gotten around to those yet.)
What you're not seeing is the quantities of the above loads. There's well over two dozen coal loads, over 3 dozen gravel loads, over a dozen tie/log loads, and over two dozen pulpwood loads, etc. (And I still need more of all of the above.)
My Kansas City & Gulf (ca 1964) "Ozark Sub" theme layout is all about moving tonnage through the Ozarks, with minerals and timber products being a very prominent part of the originating traffic in the Ozark and Ouachita mountain regions through which my fictional KC&G runs. The above pictured weights helps accomplish that: A "loaded" train weights far more than an empty.
Thus, a helper is often required to surmount that brutal grade that you hit immediately upon leaving the town of Ozarka, on into Possum Creek Hollow (pronounced "holler" in the Ozarks!) and along side Possum Creek, then into Buck Hollow and along the side of Buck Mountain on up to the town of Piney at Piney Gap. It's 2.6% - 2.9% all the way from Ozarka to the little mountain town of Piney, some 55' of climb, so my HO scale engines earn their keep!
SO... yup... I've got loads!
AndreLast edited by OK_Hogger; 07-02-2022, 11:55 AM.Comment
-
The yard at the big mine on my old Kentucky Southern layout:
A whopping 12 years ago, when the RR-L had interchange, one of Bruce’s hoppers started a bit of a commotion and the National
Guard was called to over see unloading this load of foreign coal in Eastern Kentucky’s bituminous Mining area.
Karl Scribner-Curmudgeon
Cedar Swamp
SW of Manistique, MI
Avatar image by Savannah Lyn Burgess 7-15-2022Comment
-
Many many years ago I took this shot from the pedestrian overpass in Hazard, KY real Eastern Kentucky coal country…old L&N yard durin Family Lines era. Late 70s-mid 80s era
No Dukes nor Orange Dodge Chargers were seen…nor damaged..Karl Scribner-Curmudgeon
Cedar Swamp
SW of Manistique, MI
Avatar image by Savannah Lyn Burgess 7-15-2022Comment
-
Here is a Caterpillar Parts Flatcar Load I built some time back. First try and see what it is made-up from. Then see build here; https://railroad-line.com/node/27923
​​​​​​​
Louis L&R Western Railroad
Pacific Northwest Logging in the East CoastComment
-
A somewhat uncommon open top car: roofless boxcar for pulpwood.Comment
-
Jim, excellent question. I have seen prototype photos of cars like this, and in the ?early 1960s? there was even a ki for a similar car, but none of the searching I did for an article about pulpwood in the SEP 2021 RMC found a clue as to how the car was loaded. The four black bars across the top of the car are braces to keep the sides from spreading. I don't think pulp logs could be simply dumped in by some mechanical loader without mangling hose braces. Also most of the photos I found showed neatly placed logs, so at least on my layout the car is loaded by hand.
Regular boxcars also hauled pulpwood and I've seen photos of them being loaded by hand. Sometimes the side doors were left open, but I thought a roofless car was more interesting and lets train crews readily see what they are hauling.
The car is an Ertl double sheathed car and "converting" it simply entailed lifting off the removable roof. The pulpwood load (and the cross braces) are removable as a unit so that the car can also be used as a regular boxcar by putting the roof back on - a nice feature for a small roster of rolling stock. Some Branchline (Atlas) and Intermountain steel boxcar kits also had removable roofs.Last edited by Bill_Gill; 07-03-2022, 09:43 AM.
-
In the foreground, Lehigh Valley RR coal gondolas from the 1890's built from resin kits. On the coal trestle: LV hoppers scratchbuilt in wood.
_________________________________________________
Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. James BaldwinComment
-
Andre, thanks for the comment. The loads were all built by me. Basically a sheet to fit the car and the scrap Evergreen styrene pieces glued on. The metal loads of scrap are actual metal shavings heavily flooded with Elmers GlueAll thinned with about 40% water. All loads are removable.
I have 10 gondolas and 8 bulkhead flats that needed loads. Online prices were IMO too high and the loads fairly unrealistic looking. So I have been making my own.
Everyone. I love the loads being shown, some great ideas for me to use. Thank you
TomOComment
-
Here are two types of my pulpwood cars that I built. The cattle car to pulpwood car build can be seen here; https://railroad-line.com/node/27899 Second one can be seen here; https://railroad-line.com/node/12060
Last edited by desertdrover; 07-03-2022, 01:20 PM.
Louis L&R Western Railroad
Pacific Northwest Logging in the East CoastComment
-
Louis, Like your stock-to-pulpwodd adaptation. I'm contemplating turning an as yet unbuilt stock car kit into one hauling a load of Christmas trees. That will fit well on the far side of my C&V RR which is set in a season somewhere between fall and spring.
The DEC 2021 RMC has article about shipping Christmas trees by rail.Last edited by Bill_Gill; 07-03-2022, 01:56 PM.
-
Comment